Black Ember
by Sianascera
Summary: In a world similar to our own a war has been going on for centuries, neither side able to claim the final victory. In the midst of this, a young Lord loses his family and swears to get his revenge. With the help of an ancient beast he sets out on a journey to find and punish the murderer of his parents. But the dragon demands a price... Dragon!DenmarkxNorway
1. Prologue

**A/N:** This is just the Prologue written in the view of some unnamed soldier, who will probably never appear again. Also this story will not be updated at the same rate as my other story 'The unpleasantries of life', but I will most likely be able to update once a week.  
And on a sidenote, Denmark aka Mathias will be a little bit OOC, but seeing the history I have given him that might even be natural.

* * *

The air was heavy with smoke and the sound of artillery fire. The smell of burning flesh mingled with the echoing screams of the dying. The ground was a barren waste of mud and dirt where once lush green plants had graced the scenery. The sky was a dull grey, as were the uniforms of the men who cowered in the trenches that were cutting through the landscape like tunnels in an anthill that had been ripped open.

There were many trenches, but only few men left to guard them. They had been bombed away one after another by the unrelenting onslaught of the tank formations dispatched by the Federation.

Every day had been the same for a long time now. The mornings were filled with missiles and grenades, the unwavering attack of the artillery units shredding every little bit of spirit that was left in the soldiers from the Empire who were scattered among the trenches, desperate to hold what little ground was left to them. After the deadly rain the tanks would come, line after line until they reached the first trench, where foot troops would lay out metal plates over the rifts in the earth, so the tanks could proceed once more, meter by meter, every day a little more.

This was also the only moment we could fight back, because the artillery units were too far beyond the enemy line, the tanks too heavy and our men too few to perform a sortie. The foot soldiers who laid out the metal plates would duck behind a tank until the vehicle had reached a trench, then they would scurry forward, accompanied by the firing of the cannon of the very same craft they were trying to make a passage for.

And we, as desperate as we were, would move above the safety of the trenches, aiming our guns at the soldiers and hoping that the bullet would hit its target and that the assault was halted, even if only for a little moment.

But it was futile.

Every day we would lose more ground, we were forced to move back in the lines of trenches, and soon there would be no more trenches left, and then we would just die out there in the field, giving our lives for a cause we long had forgotten. I didn't remember who had started the war, if it was the Empire or the Federation. This war raged on for centuries now, both sides tried to gain as much ground against their enemy as possible, but more and more land was destroyed in the process.

The Empire didn't lack manpower, they could have easily sent reinforcements a long time ago to claim back what we lost day after day, there were more than enough eager young men who dreamed of giving their lives for the cause of the Empire. But this part of the continent had been torn in countless wars, and what was left of its fertile lands had been tainted by the current fight for supremacy.

And so the Empire had come to the decision to throw this land that had lost all its value to the Emperor, before the hungry mouth of the Federation, to bind their manpower here, while other more important battles were won elsewhere. And we, the soldiers who were stationed here had been ordered to fight until all trenches were lost, and what little survivors were still standing after that would retreat to the Eastern Base that would soon guard our new border. But only when the last trench had fallen, were we allowed to leave. We were only pawns to be sacrificed on the chess board of this war.

It would be time soon, the day before we had lost more ground than expected, and now we were in the last line of trenches; behind us was nothing more than wasteland and some stray bushes and trees. Soon I would be able to give the long awaited command for retreat, and then we would light the fuse that had been laid out here some days prior, and the ensuing explosion would disguise our flight from the sight of our enemies.

I kneeled in a side arm of the network of trenches, a long rifle poked out of the safety of the earth hole, but I had long since given up on aiming, the risk was too great and so I just randomly shot in the general direction, even if I would hit, I would only delay the inevitable.

My second lieutenant cowered beside me, fumbling with the radio, waiting for the Intel that would finally allow us retreat.

An explosion rocked the ground, a projectile must have hit somewhere near. Dirt and stones rained down on us, and I ducked my head, seeking cover under my helmet. The impacts were drawing nearer, and a loud gasp, followed by a short yell from one of the soldiers signaled that they had once more conquered an obstacle. That left only one trench between them and our position.

Soon.

The radio cracked, my second lieutenant hastily pulled some switches and put the earphones on. The relief that washed over his face, when he got whatever the other side had sent, was apparent through all the dirt and blood that covered his face. He gave me a thumbs up.

Finally.

But before I could issue the order for retreat, another explosion shook the ground, only this time it came from behind us. Another one followed shortly after, and then there was gunfire again from behind us. For a short moment I thought that the Empire finally had sent reinforcements that the radio transmission hadn't been the order to retreat but the Intel on new troops. And then I heard footsteps, and a soldier scrambled to a halt before me.

"Captain, we are surrounded, the enemy has cut in from the sides, they are now _behind_ us!" I looked at him in utter shock. I had been so concentrated on the prospect of imminent relief, that the thought of them thwarting our plans didn't even graze my mind. They hadn't lost as many men as we had, and they were close to their goal of claiming this land, so why did they even bother with what little was left of our troop?

Because they wanted to send a message to the Empire. _We won't only take your land, but we will crush you in the process._

Screams echoed through the air, the smoke that was wavering around us made it hard to make out our surroundings.

"Captain," my second lieutenant urged on, "What are your orders?"

It didn't matter, did it? There was no way we could break through the enemy line, from the sound of it they had circled us with tanks, which now fired happily away at us. Maybe the heavy smoke would allow us to sneak through, but surely they would have infantries positioned between the tank lines.

We could surrender though. But that would also mean to forfeit our lives. They would not kill us, well not all of us, but they would torture us, and if they ever set us free, there would be no more place for us in the world. The Empire condemned surrenders, rather die a glorious death in battle than to come home in shame. No, we had to fight 'til our deaths, only then the Empire would glorify our heroic sacrifice on the battlefield.

"Captain!" The lesser officer now shook my shoulder, other soldiers had gathered round; there was nowhere else to go so they flocked around their leader.

As if I could safe them.

A shadow passed over us, followed by a gust of wind that tangled in our hair and a roar that could only mean one thing.

No, that could not possibly be…?

I snapped my head up and searched the sky frantically for what I never believed to find there ever again. The majestic form of a dragon parted the skies with its enormous wings. It was spiraling down, over the ripped up earth, screaming a wordless challenge into the dreary sky.

Than it had reached attack height, and the world was suddenly filled with flame. Nothing could stand before a dragon's flame; not even the heavy steel that armored a tank could withstand the heat. I watched in awe as the fire wrecked havoc under the enemy troops. The foot troops were the lucky ones, they burned immediately, their bones charred to nothing more than coal. Some tanks exploded as their fuel supply caught fire and tore the heavy vehicle apart, but the rest was melted by the dragon flame, the men inside cooked until their brains dissolved.

We were surrounded by a ring of flames and screams, the dragon had effectively shattered the enemy assault in only a few heartbeats.

I would have never thought that the Empire would send one of its precious dragons, let alone one this big, to a frontline that was deemed lost, just to allow some soldiers to escape. The dragons were the trump cards of the Empire, allowing them to stand a chance against the superior armaments of the Federation.

And when they had first flown over the battlefield, they had brought unparalleled disaster over the enemy line, their tanks useless, for they could not aim at the sky, and the thick metal plating melted in seconds. But then the enemy had adapted, using heavy grounded flak artillery to shoot the dragons from the sky. Back than they had attacked in swarms, forming up a flight formation to cover as much ground as possible when they spat fire, but thus, providing an easy target for the flaks. The Empire had then issued a new attack strategy, loosening the attack formation into independently operating groups that were able to outmaneuver the flak artillery. The Federation had adapted again, and their new measurement of attack was then countered by the Empire and so on for more than hundred years now.

But despite all of that, it was still not easy to bring down a dragon; the dragon's belly was armored with thick scales that withstood almost everything. At the beginning they had tried to aim at the mouth, but the moment a dragon opened its mouth, there was flame and no warhead stood a chance against newly fueled dragon flame. And even if, by some lucky chance, a projectile would enter the split second it took the dragon to spray the essence that preceded the flame, it wouldn't come past the scale plates that protected the dragon's throat. The wings were of course a weakness, the membrane could be penetrated by some heavier calibers, but it was almost impossible to hit the wings when the dragon was midflight and not in formation, he was simply too agile. So that left the eyes, but as sensitive as they were, they were far too small to provide a reliable target.

The dragon had stopped its attack, most of the flames had already died, since they were not fueled by oxygen, but by the essence a dragon spit our prior to the attack, and steel did not burn on its own. Only the burning of the exploded gas tanks remained, but the temperature of that flame was much lower than the flame of a dragon.

The dragon circled, looking for a spot to land, and when he found one, he quickly descended; crouching down once the ground was hit and pulling its wings close to the body to be as less a target as possible.

Once the Federation had realized that their ground artillery was no match for a dragon, they had poured as much funding as possible into the research of aircraft vessels, and finally they had come up with a counter measure.

They used cords of steel wire attached to the belly of small and nimble planes that would slice through a dragon's wing if hit frontal, using the momentum of the dragons flight to strengthen the impact. And in time the pilots had become more and more skilled at that kind of attack and now the order was for every dragon to stay grounded, unless they had reason to take flight. A grounded dragon was less vulnerable for he could curl into a heavy armored fortress of scale and fire.

I climbed out of the trench, making my way through the field of fiery destruction towards the landing site of the dragon. It was the biggest dragon I had ever seen; it was black with red accents, the eye on the side of the head that was facing me shone red with a slit pupil. As I approached I noticed the two poles that stuck in the dragon's back, right at the shoulders.

That was unusual.

The poles were spells driven into the dragon to subdue it and bind it to the Tamer's will. The most common spell, the one driven through the head to reduce a dragon's savage intelligence into the mindless conscious of a mere animal, was missing. Instead the dragon's eye shone with feral intelligence, following my every move with unsettling interest. Most dragons had spells everywhere, on the legs, on the body the neck, some Tamers even went as far as to impair their dragon's voice by putting one through the tongue.

A figure was appearing on the dragon's back, he was small in comparison to the dragon, but then again everyone would be. He wore a heavy coat to shield him from the cold winds and goggles to protect his eyes. He leapt from the back and onto the folded wing to use it as a step and climbed down on the ground.

He approached us and I saluted the moment he was in range. There were three ranks among the dragon Tamers, each and every one superior to everything that was below a Colonel of the ground troops. The lowest rank were the Sky Watchers, they used the smaller and more nimble dragons, called pearl dragons, often colored white or silver to perform air recon or carry messages. They did not fight, for their dragons were not capable of spouting flames. The pearl dragons were not considered as real dragons but lesser forms due to their lack of fire.

The middle rank was made up by the Dragoneers, they were the fighters and their dragons were bigger than those of the Sky Watchers, heavier plated with scales and more destructive. They could have every color, but most commonly were darker colors like green and blue. Multicolored patterns were unusual, they were mostly monochrome.

And the highest rank was the Dragon Lords, the officers in charge of the other dragon ranks. They were made up of the noble houses of the Empire, thus the name. Their dragons were the same as the dragons of the Dragoneers, but often they would use unique dragons in color and traits, not for the skill but for appearance. The more unique a dragon was, the more prestigious its owner would feel.

As the Tamer neared us I could see the symbols on his shoulder pattern, and I realized that he was indeed a Dragon Lord, as befitting of the mighty dragon that he owned. He looked young though, younger than I had expected, his blonde hair was tousled and there was a cross shaped barrette holding back some of the strands. His eyes were dark blue and looked indifferently over my battered band of men.

"Thank you for saving us." I said, trying to sound calm, even though I was still shaken by the previous events. "I didn't expect HQ to send reinforcements, especially not winged ones." _And most definitely not a Lord._

"HQ didn't send me; I was passing by and thought I could help." His words took me aback; it was unusual enough for a Dragon Lord to rescue some foot soldiers, but a Dragon Lord out alone? That was suspicious as hell. But I knew better than to inquire.

"Are those all of your men?" He asked, indifferent eyes grazing over the wrecked bunch of men around me. I made a quick headcount and then nodded. There were not many left though.

"The Eastern Base is not far from here, I will escort you there." It was not a proposition, but an order and I could only obey in disbelief, it was the first time that a Dragon Lord had bothered with such 'trifle' things. But then again that was not the only unusual thing about this Tamer. His dragon had watched the exchange with predatory curiosity and his eyes now followed his master as he walked back to him and climbed on his back.

The dragon pushed his heavy body up from the ground and began to flap his wings in powerful but slow movements, normally a dragon would jump from a high point, a mountain or one of the dragon towers specifically built for them. Taking off from the ground was a risk and left them in a vulnerable state, until they had managed to gain enough height to resort to full speed.

While I watched the dragons slow ascend I wondered what his human form looked like. Dragons, aside from the lesser ones were able to take on a human form. Some Tamers liked to be followed around by their dragons everywhere they went, thus requiring them to transform; others simply used the human form to confine them in a smaller spice while they didn't fly them. But somehow I felt that this tamer would grant his dragon some freedom.

When the dragon was once again airborne I signaled my men, and we departed, leaving the still smoking battlefield behind us. We had no vehicles left to carry us, but we set a brisk pace, everyone eager to leave this place. The few injured we had, were supported by their comrades. The Federation troops tended to not leave many injured though, they always aimed for the kill.

When we finally reached the Base, the dragon flew one more circle, alerting the stationed troops to our presence, then he flew back where we had came from, leaving us behind with many unanswered questions and immeasurable gratitude.


	2. Contract

There was nothing in this world that could compare to the flight with a dragon, the feeling of freedom, the blowing and biting wind and of course the magnificent view of the ground speeding past beneath us. And there was nothing in this world I would give this up for.

I was riding on the back of my dragon a majestic black beast with red streaks painting his scales. His wings seemed to span the sky, they were outstretched and steadily riding on the current, occasionally adjusting the angle, the muscles at their base rippling slightly at the movement. The back was armored with thick scales that gave of heat even in this temperature so high above the clouds.

The fire that burned inside a dragons belly could reach temperatures of about 3000°C, the immense heat was necessary to build the essence of a dragon's flame that could be spit out at any moment. Scientists tried to get their hands on that essence to crack the formula and create something similar without relying on dragons, but I didn't care about its contents.

The heat given off by the dragon's body was only bearable because the massive bone structure along with the thick scaled skin worked as an isolator to weaken the flame's burn at the outside. The warmth radiating from the dragons were the one reason humans could fly with them at such heights for a long time at all. We wore thick clothes, but we would have lost too much temperature after a few hours, but the dragons kept us warm. The thick spikes that shielded the neck of my dragon could be used as a windshield and increased the comfort a dragon ride could provide.

There were of course structures unique to some dragons; the neck shield of my dragon was one for example. Tails also differed among dragons, the tail of mine was long and thin, others had a thick horned ball at the end, used for battle purposes. The hind legs of my dragon were strong, the four claws sharp as a razor and able to slice through almost anything. The front legs were smaller, also clawed and could be used for handling things. But dragons rarely handled.

The neck was covered with thick armor-like scales, laid out in tight and flexile layers to allow maximum movement. The head was crowned with sharp horns which were surrounded by shorter spikes, the eyes were bright red with a slit pupil and protected by a transparent horn lid. The jaw was massive, thick teeth sticking out; the gland that sprayed out the fiery essence was a small opening, almost invisible against the dark red back of the throat. The tongue was long and swift and was covered with a thick layer of leathery skin.

I cowered behind the thick neck shield, between the two poles that stuck in his shoulders. The left one was the most basic one, it bound the will of the dragon to his master; no matter how hard he fought he could not override an order of his master. The other one was for protection, because a dragon could easily turn against his master, if he was able to find a hole in his master's orders. Especially when a spell subdued the dragon's intelligence, the animalistic instinct would lash out at every human in range if not held down tightly.

There were other spells aside from those two and the one that impaired a dragons mind, a spell driven through the snout would remove the voice of the dragon, spells driven through the limbs would bind the ability to use those limbs to the Master's will.

I would have preferred to not spellbind my dragon at all, but those two were the minimum compromise that allowed me to use this dragon at all. Otherwise the Empire would have slain the dragon in order to 'protect the citizens'.

I knew that the spells were painful for the dragons; even in human forms the spots that were visible in the form of tattoos were sore and sensitive. But the two poles had another use; one which I hardly could go without with .Woven between the poles was a gravity spell that pulled the rider towards the dragon as its center. That allowed riding without some sort of saddle or bridle. And it allowed me to stay on my dragon through all sorts of air maneuvers, even hunting. And it prevented me from getting blown down by the strong winds.

No feeling on this earth could compare to the feeling of flying above the clouds, having a mighty beast under one's control that separated you from the countless people crowding the ground.

An image flashed through my mind and I couldn't help but smile. The image was sent by the dragon, it was their way of communicating with their Tamers. They couldn't exactly read minds they just picked up on the mood and the taste of the thoughts and pieced together what the human was thinking. And they answered with images, and it was left to us to decipher what they could mean. Well, at least I did, along with their intelligence went the ability to communicate once a pole was driven through the head.

The dragon had caught on to my thoughts of dragon flight and so he had showed me an image of our first flight, or rather his memories of it. And that brought back yet another memory, the memory of how we met for the first time, deep down in the dungeons of my family's estate.

The history of the dragons was a long and bloody one. Dragons had roamed this world long before humans set a foot on it. And back in the old days, they were even mightier than today, a true dragon's average length was around 25 meters, tail included. But after humans had subdued and inbreeded them with lesser dragons, more beastlike, their offspring had shrunken over the years and todays dragons barely reached 20 meters. A true dragon could live almost for an eternity, but their long exposure to human wastes and mistreating, led to their slow demise, leaving behind their descendents whose life span shortened over the generations.

More than thousand years ago, wars had been fought entirely with dragons, but the destructive power had been too big, too much land was burned to ashes, too many corpses, of dragons and men alike had soiled the waters of lakes and rivers. And so, about a millennium ago, the dragons had been hunted and killed and were replaced with new forms of mechanical warfare.

But as things go, not all dragons had been slain, some managed to escape and survived in the wilds in secret places where no human in their right mind would go. Dragons were erased from the memories of the common people and only some noble families remembered, dwelling in their lost glory, for it was common for a noble house to own their own dragons. But mostly, dragons were only subject of fairy tales to scare children to eat their vegetables.

Things changed though, when war between the Empire and the Federation had started, the cause long forgotten, but soon it became evident that the Empire's army was no match for the superior technology of the Federation.

So, in his despair, the Emperor sent out sorcerers out to find and reclaim the dragons that had once been lost, and some 100 years ago their efforts finally bore fruit and the Empire's dragons once more roamed the skies. The dragons had almost brought the final turn to the war, overpowering the machinery of the Federation with mocking ease, but then the Federation had adapted to the new threat and by now the dragons were no longer the tip of the scale, but only another form of weaponry. They still granted the Empire sovereignty over the sky though, but it wouldn't be long until that too, would be torn from their claws.

I was yet unaware of most of history's facts back when I first discovered the secret passage behind some wooden panel in an abandoned room in my family's home. Our castle was in the north of our lands, a vast patch of forest and greenery, lying in the midst of the Empire's fertile region. My family was wealthy thanks to the rich harvests and some mines in the mountain area in the north where our estate lied. We were one of the seven head families that formed the imperial council. Only members of the head families were allowed to take on the rank of a Dragon Lord to command the dragon army in battle. As in old times the noble families, especially the head families owned their own dragons, which were often unique in their appearance.

My family was small, there were only me and my parents, and we didn't even have any dragons, at least that was, what I thought back then. My father was sitting in the imperial council though, and he was respected for his wisdom, even without a dragon.

My heart was beating in my chest when I walked down the dusty corridor until I reached steps that spiraled down and down and finally reached into a vast cavern, filled with stalactites and stalagmites. A few rays of sunlight shone down through a hole, high up in the ceiling, illuminating the grey stone of the cavern floor. Water was trickling down somewhere in steady drops, disturbing the otherwise perfect silence.

I was seven years old back then, and the steps of my tiny feet echoed through the cavern, and I stared with open mouth at the mighty pillars of stone that struck up high into the air, before thinning down and stopping shy before they could reach their mighty twins hanging from the ceiling.

And then I heard the sounds of rattling chains.

But instead of turning around and fleeing as fast as my little legs could carry me, I wandered towards where the sound had come from. And as I neared the spot there was a shape born from the darkness.

A man was chained to one of the stony pillars, his whole body was covered with chains and there were spikes were driven through the chains and the man's body beneath them. Around the spikes was dried blood and even the chains were specked with blood. His hair hung wet and dull over his face, but even through the dirty bangs I could see his eyes that glowed in a deep blue, watching my every movement. He was naked and his skin was covered with tattoos, but those were details my innocent child's mind didn't notice.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, tilting my head in curiosity.

I took another step; I was now close enough to touch with an outstretched hand.

"Who are you?" His voice was raspy, it sounded as if he hadn't used it in a long time.

I had been taught politeness and good manners since I was barely old enough to walk so I answered without a second thought: "I am Lukas Bondevik." At my words his eyes widened and he looked at me with a mix of fear, anger and anticipation. I reached out my hand, eager to touch one of the spikes that were driven through his body. He recoiled from the touch, but his chains didn't give him much space. My fingers brushed against the cold metal and I felt a warm tingling in the tips. The man hissed.

"And who are you?" I asked after I was satisfied with my investigation of the spike.

"Ember is my true name, but you can call me Mathias." I was too young to question his words, so instead I repeated my earlier question.

"Why are you here?"

"You put me here."

"Me?"

"Your ancestors." I nodded, as if I understood what he was saying, but in truth I had been distracted by the growl of my hungry stomach.

"It was nice meeting you Mathias, I have to go now." I proclaimed; putting as much sincerity in my voice I could muster. He only growled, as I started to walk away, but then I turned around one more time. I didn't know why I said it, maybe it was a childish whim, maybe it was something else, but I said: "One day I will come and get you out of here." It was a promise, and even if I did not know back then, it was a promise that would change my life.

I returned upstairs and soon forgot about the encounter as the childish mind is easily distracted. But in time I remembered and began to research. It took some time and I had to search through our old library for days until I finally found a very old tome, protected by a spell to prevent decay, in which the oldest secret of our family was written down, and it took me again some time until I learned enough of the old language to decipher the writings.

The man was a dragon, chained in his human form, because he was too dangerous to let him free. He was a direct descendant of the dragons of old; offspring of the first generation, thus his life span was longer than those of the dragons nowadays. He was also slightly bigger. He had been in possession of my family for a long time, but when the downfall of dragons came he wasn't killed, instead he was imprisoned down below the castle. The spell that hid the entrance to his prison was timed to wear off after thousand years, so that only then he could be found. A millennium was a long time, but for a true dragon as him that was merely a fraction of his life.

And he was bound to the will of the Bondevik family. Back when he was still used in combat, he had served countless generations of family members, gaining a terrifying reputation of merciless slaughter and destruction. And I found a drawing of his dragon form. He was black, aside from the red pattern that was scattered over his body. It was a small picture, yet the majesty of this mighty beast was visible, and ever since I laid eyes on his form I felt the wish to see it in nature. None of the dragons I had seen so far could match him, neither in color nor in form. Yet I didn't venture down there, the stories of his bestial wrath filling me with respect and maybe a little fear.

And I didn't think of holding my promise until the night my parents died.

My father lived most of the year in the palace, providing council to the emperor, but my mother had decided that it would do me good to grow up far from the intrigues of the imperial palace. So we lived in our castle and visited father from time to time. But since my 16th birthday my mother had started to live in the palace too, I was old enough to live on my own after all.

I had come to visit my parents and some of the few friends I had at court, when it happened. I was out with said friends, roaming the streets of the city surrounding the palace and enjoying the life of an heir of a prestigious and rich family. I was 17; ten years had passed since I had met the dragon.

We returned in the early hours of the morning, each stumbling to their respective quarters. My family didn't use their chambers in the imperial palace but owned a mansion in the noble parts of the city, close to the palace and surrounded by the palace wall.

At first I didn't notice the abnormalities as I entered the house, the aftermath of the night's activities clouded my vision, but when I stepped on broken glass my senses instantly snapped back in place.

A window was shattered, the cool night air wafting through the dark room. There was no sound, except my breathing and suddenly I was filled with the feeling of dread. There was something wrong here.

I fumbled a while until I found the switch for the gas lamp, and then I wished I hadn't. My parents lied on the ground in a pool of blood, both had been shot in the head and the eyes of my mother seemed to look at me in silent frozen terror. My father had no eyes anymore; the projectile had blasted of almost his entire face.

This was the moment when my life changed completely.

After that I was the only survivor of my family so I inherited the title of Lord Bondevik, and was now the head of the castle and the lands around it. The imperial police force, who investigated the murder, concluded that they were killed by burglars whom they had surprised during their break-in. My parents were buried with all the honor and glory they deserved, but I was not satisfied.

I knew that it hadn't been burglars, nothing was missing, and the crime scene didn't look at all as if there had been a fight or burglars trying to find valuables, the broken window stemmed from a stray bullet, as far as I could tell. No it had looked more like an execution, which meant that there had been someone who wanted them dead, someone they knew for they had let them into the house.

And so, in order to find the murderer of my parents and get my revenge I finally returned to the cavern where the dragon was held captive. I walked down the steps and into the vast stony hall. He was in the same position as the last time, but this time his eyes didn't hold fear or anger, only expectance, and maybe relief.

"So you came to keep your promise… I have to say, I didn't expect you would." His voice sounded even hoarser than the last time. I looked him up and down, taking in all the details I had missed as a child. His nakedness, the obvious pain he must have been in, the tattoos and the mold that covered some parts of his body.

"I'll free you." I said, steeling myself so as not to waver from his burning gaze. "But you have to help me." And then I told him what I expected from him, my voice sounding surer as I felt.

After I had finished he looked at me for a long while until he answered: "I'll help you, but my help has a price." I took a step back at the dangerous edge in his voice. "Your price is your freedom." I said.

"No, that is not enough. You won't free me completely; if you did I would just leave after I had burned this whole place to the ground." His eyes were glowing and I had to suppress a shiver.

"Pay my price and I will be yours, as long as your revenge takes, and after that I will leave without laying a single claw on you and never return to this land. If you're not willing to pay my price you better should go."

I hesitated, but the truth was I had already made my choice. I was set on finding my parents murderer and no matter what price he would demand I would gladly pay it.

"Fine, I'll pay your price." A smile formed on the man's face, his eyes glistening with satisfaction. "Then we have a deal."

Maybe I had made a deal with the devil, but I didn't care, as long as I would get my revenge.

"So what is your price?" I asked, wondering what a dragon could want from me.

The man, no I reminded myself, his name was Mathias, and I should better start calling him that, smirked and a nimble tongue licked over his chafed lips.

"You."

...


	3. Claw Mark

Mathias'eyes bore into mine, unrelenting, unyielding, and I knew that he meant his words. The price for my revenge would be me.

But that didn't matter.

As long as I got my revenge, he could do everything with me what he wanted.

"Very well." I said and stepped forward. The spikes driven through his body bound him to this place, and they could only be removed by the hand of a member of the Bondevik family. I slid a finger over the metal of one spike that stuck in his right shoulder; I could feel the tingle and the hint of power engraved into the device. Mathias followed my movements with his eyes, almost like a predator who was after his prey.

My grip tightened around the spike and I slowly pulled out the metallic shaft. A look of suppressed pain washed over Mathias' face but he kept his eyes open and on me. I dropped the spike on the floor and pulled out the next. With every spike a little bit of live seemed to return to Mathias, his skin regained color, the mold disappeared from his body and the dark rings under his blood ridden eyes faded. The spikes fell down with a heavy 'clonk' echoing through the dark cavern bouncing back from the far away walls and dancing around us.

I reached the last one, but before I pulled it out I hesitated. "You will grant my revenge, and in exchange I'll become yours." Mathias eyes shone eerily in the darkness as he answered: "So it shall be." I gripped the cold metal and pulled and with another resonating 'clonk' Mathias was finally free, after more than thousand years.

I didn't know what I had expected, maybe that he'd jump up the moment the last spike was removed and transform or that he would turn on me and kill me, but in reality he did nothing. He just sat there, where he had sat for the last millennium and looked at me. Then he slowly moved, first a hand then an arm and then he pushed himself to his feet, leaning on the stony pillar behind him for support.

While standing I got a full view of his body, spells in form of dark tattoos were scattered over his body, I couldn't put a use to most of them, muscles rippled underneath his skin and even through the dirt and blood that caked him it became obvious that he was beautiful.

And then he stepped forward, bare feet on cold ground, and into the light that shed from the hole in the ceiling. He closed his eyes and sighed, reaching out the palms of his hands to face upwards, his skin shimmering in the pale light.

"How I missed the sun." His voice had lost most of its rustiness, and now I could hear the sound of it echoing through the wide hall, he had a warm voice full of life. But then he winced and it was obvious that he was still weakened from his long imprisonment and that the spells driven into his body made every movement painful.

I didn't even need most of them.

"Come." I said and turned towards the stairs that led up into the castle and without a question he followed me, placing his feet carefully, until he grew steadier with every step he took. I led him up the stairs and through the corridor that was as dusty as it had been the first time I had walked through it and through the hidden door behind the wooden panel and into his new home.

By the time we reached the part of the castle where my rooms, now the master rooms, laid, his steps no longer made any sound. And something else changed too, but I noticed that later when we reached the bedroom and when I turned around for the first time since we left the cavern.

He was grinning.

It was a broad and cocky grin that he flashed at me and it seemed to grow with every detail he took in of his new surroundings. His grin irritated me, and to be honest it was even a little unsettling, I wouldn't have expected that a mighty dragon who was chained for over thousand years would just grin happily at some plush carpet. "What?" I snapped.

His grin didn't falter. "I don't know maybe I am just happy to get out of that stuffy cave." That cave and stuffy? But then again he was a dragon, for his true size that cavern was probably small.

My eyes trailed once again over his body as I took in all the tattoos that were too many to count. What fear my ancestors must have had felt, for them to bind him with so many spells. Mathias followed my gaze that was locked on a spiral pattern on his lower abdomen; a portion of the tattoo reached down and hugged his genitals. An almost sad look crossed his face and took with it the wide grin.

"What's that for?" I asked; why would someone need to impair a dragon's sex with a spell?

"Punishment." He simply said, and his tone signaled that he wouldn't talk about it further. I could have forced him to tell me, but I didn't, even a dragon needed his secrets. "Sit down." I commanded and he obeyed, sitting down on the edge of the bed, most of the dirt and blood that had covered him had fallen off on our way here, like the skin a snake shed to grow, leaving him in all his naked glory. I wondered briefly if he would be able to disobey me with all these spells that subdued him. Looking at his proud form that refused to lower his eyes from my gaze, I was sure that he would fight me, if I ever gave him reason to.

I reached out and my fingers tapped over one of the tattoos, black mist swirling around where my skin connected with the black color. A master needed to know what a spell was about, so the information was embroidered within the magic and poured into the mind of the master upon touch. The spell controlled the use of the body part it was placed upon, in this case the right leg. One thought and Mathias would no longer be able to use this leg, only if the command was reverted would he be in control again.

Useless.

My fingers dug into the skin and pulled out the spell, black swirls transforming into a carved pole, albeit smaller than the form it took once the dragon changed forms. The pole was neither made of metal nor any other material I knew, it was dark and strange symbols covered it. The material was warm and seemed almost alive in my hands. And then it dissolved into black dust, the spell that was no longer needed ceased its existence. Only a sorcerer could redo it now.

Mathias watched with the lazy interest of a predator who knew there was no reason to strike yet, as I proceeded to remove spell after spell, until the only ones left were the two in his shoulders and the one on his genitals. I would have removed those in his shoulders too, what bound him to me was not the spells but our pact after all, but I couldn't, not if I wanted to become a Dragon Lord. They wouldn't let someone join who flew a completely uncontrolled dragon. And to become a Dragon Lord, or rather take up my place as one, was essential to my plan, for I had reason to believe that the murderer of my parents came from one of the head families. Aside from that, being a Dragon Lord would grant me the necessary power to conduct investigation, and keep of much of that a secret as possible.

I hesitated before I brushed a finger over Mathias' abdomen and the spiral that was imprinted there. Mathias had been silent throughout all this, but now he sucked in his breath. Knowledge poured into me, but I blocked it off, I didn't want to know and according to Mathias reaction he didn't want me to know and that was fine with me.

I didn't know who placed this spell and for what purpose, but I didn't care. This would be of no use for my revenge so I dug in my fingers for the last time and materialized the spell in my hand. I couldn't read the look on Mathias' face as he saw the pole dissolve. It was a mix of relief and regret, but it showed only briefly and was soon replaced by yet another grin.

"You know that was probably stupid."

I stood up from the kneeling position I had gotten into to remove the last spell and looked at him with cool eyes. "Those two are enough." I indicated the remaining spells in his shoulders. As on cue, he stretched and relished in the feeling of moving around almost painless.

"I will advise the servants to find suitable clothes for you; they have already prepared a room for you, next to mine." I said; his nakedness had started to bother me.

"I don't think so." His voice was low and had an almost dangerous edge. I took a step back in reflex, suddenly doubting my earlier decision to remove all the control spells.

"What do you mean?" I asked and took another step back, when Mathias rose from his seated position to look down on me. "I won't sleep alone, you're mine." I stood there for a moment, not comprehending what he had just implied, and that moment was all he needed to grip my arms and pull me around and onto the bed, where he pushed me down. "You're mine." He growled. "And I will carve that into your body." With that he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine, forcing his tongue in and devouring me in a forceful kiss.

The abnormal heat that resided in him, that resided in every dragon's body poured into me through his mouth, flowing in every part, every limb in every toe and finger. I couldn't move; I didn't _want_ to move when Mathias' hands conquered my body.

He pressed down on me with his body, and the heat it was radiating made me overly aware of his nakedness. His hands were everywhere, on my back, on my hips, on my chest, unbuttoning my shirt, unbuckling my belt and then they were on my skin, setting it ablaze with their heat.

A moan escaped my lips and was swallowed from Mathias' lips on mine. I knew I should push him away and not let him have his way with me, but every time I gathered enough resolve to do so, his hands brushed against an especially sensitive spot and I was lost in a firework of bliss and pleasure.

I was naked, my clothes piled on the floor but I couldn't remember shedding them, but it didn't matter because Mathias lips were on my chest, tongue spiraling around one nipple and when he finally licked the small bud, I moaned shamelessly. And then he bit the nipple and pain mixed into the pleasure and I writhed underneath Mathias, wantonly craving more of his touches.

He mined his nails down the sensitive skin of my chest, on the search for blood and when he found it, he followed the trace with his tongue and consuming the red liquid with a satisfied sigh. "You will never forget," He whispered his lips painted red from my blood, "That you are mine." A finger drew along the lines his nails painted into my skin, sending shivers of pained pleasure through my spine. "As long as these marks are here, you will be mine, and they will never disappear." His words seemed to bore right into my soul, every time his vocal chords sounded I could feel my heart rate increasing, hastening the blood through my veins.

And I couldn't deny that I liked it.

I wanted to be his.

I wanted to be consumed by him.

I wanted to be completed by his heat.

I wanted him.

His fingers continued their journey over my body, now reaching down to my legs, caressing the thighs, my lower abdomen, circling around my member until they finally touched it. A ghostly graze over the tip, but it was enough to make me voice my pleasure and lift my hips into his touch.

I couldn't wait any longer, I knew it would be painful, but I didn't care, as long as I could feel him.

"Take me." I whispered, my voice filled with lust.

"As you command." I knew it was an empty saying in this case, for he would have taken me even without my consent, but it still sent shivers down my spine.

He pushed my legs further apart and lifted my hips up onto his kneeling legs. His deep blue eyes were locked onto mine when he pushed the head of his erection against my entrance. I tried to relax as much as possible but it was difficult with the position. And it didn't help that this was my first time or his member had quite some girth.

It felt as if my body split open and I bit back a scream. My fingers clawed into his legs as he pushed in, inch after agonizing inch. His cock was even hotter as the rest of him and soon the heat drowned out the pain. And from the heat pleasure was born as the tip of his length brushed against my prostate.

Mathias' lips were once again on mine, tongue demanding entrance and for a moment I forgot his fully sheathed presence in me, but then he moved, pulled out and slammed back in and I screamed into the kiss, screamed in the feeling of immense pleasure. From then on he knew no mercy, he buried himself into me to the hilt again and again, and every time when he would hit my prostate I screamed out until my voice was hoarse and cracked. And yet he still continued, hands in an iron grip on my hips so that I would not escape and every thrust was accentuated by a throaty groan.

Every nerve was on fire, stars danced in front of my eyes and wave after wave of pleasure washed over me until finally it was too much, and I screamed his name as I came violently between us. He followed only seconds later, filling my insides with liquid fire.

I panted heavily, the aftermath of my orgasm was still raging through my body and it took some time for me to calm down at last. Mathias released his tight grip on my body and I slid down from the position on his lap, his member slowly gliding out of me. There were spots of red mingled in with the creamy white of his semen. I could feel the light throbbing of pain through the bliss of post-orgasm; this would probably hurt for a while.

But it was worth it.

Mathias slid his arms under me and lifted me up into the air and then cradled me against his chest. "What are you doing?" I demanded to know, my voice was a mere whisper, scratchy from overuse. "Taking care of your wellbeing, Master." He added the last part, almost mockingly, I thought I heard a trace of affection in his voice though.

But that was probably just my imagination.

The blood on my chest had dried, but now the wounds had begun to sting slightly, I looked down to take a look at them for the first time. There were four straight parallel lines across my chest, almost like the claw mark of a dragon. No, I corrected myself it w_as _the claw mark of a dragon, my dragon.

I didn't know it back then, but the mark of a dragon's claw during a most intimate situation was their way of forming a bond. What was marked by a dragon belonged to that dragon, in body and soul. As he had said, Mathias had laid claim to me, and what a dragon marked, he would never let go again.

It was almost like a declaration of love.

But I would learn that only much later.

For now we had created something like trust between us.

He carried me into the bathroom after that and cleaned me up; with a gentle care I would have never expected someone like him being capable of. When he was finished he carried me back into the bedroom and laid me down onto the cushions.

It was only afternoon, too early to sleep yet, but I was in no condition to move around so Mathias tended to my every need. And it was then that we talked and made our first steps on the long path of getting to know each other.

I told him why I wanted revenge, and who I suspected to be responsible. I had narrowed the suspects down to one of the other head families. The way every form of investigation was hindered by the court and the fact that no ordinary burglar would have been able to cross the palace wall convinced me that it had to have been an inside job. That left the imperial family, the palace guards and of course the noble families that resided inside the palace or the few houses inside the inner wall. And of those only the head families would have any form of benefit from my parent's death, even though I didn't know what benefit. But it was a start.

Mathias told me about how his name came to be how his black form patterned with red gave him the look of slowly dying ember, thus earning him his name _Ember_. I knew there was so much more to his story, but he refused to give anything away that happened before his imprisonment.

A dragon had two names, the name of his dragon form often hinted at his coloring or look, the name of the human form was mostly chosen to blend in with the human customs of name giving, and could be changed. Mathias had stuck to his name though; there was no use in constantly changing it.

* * *

That had been two years ago.

During that time, we had joined in the Empire's army as a Dragon Lord and his dragon, the lack of spells binding him sparked many discussions, but in the end the two that was still in place were enough, for there were no laws regulating the amount of spells. Most people just shoved as much spells as possible into their dragons out of fear or simply because they were addicted to the feeling of ultimate control.

During that time Mathias would continuously claim me as his, the marks on my chest had turned into four long thin scars that gleamed against my pale skin. His lust was insatiable, and no matter how inappropriate the time or location, I would never refuse him. Because that was, after all his price.

I had gotten a clue recently, pointing towards a village at the northeastern border of the Empire, where my parents ostensibly had visited on some occasions for no apparent reason. By now I was desperate for any clue as small and insignificant as it was.

So we flew along the Eastern border, over burned land and ashen fields, gunfire and explosions echoed in the distance, towards the village, the cloudy sky above us, hoping that this time we would finally find something that would bring us closer to our goal.


	4. Confession

**A/N: **Depending on his form, Denmark will either be called by his human or dragon name.

* * *

My gloved hands were firmly gripping the long thorns that protected Ember's neck. The land we had flown over for the last hour was completely barren, the once fertile earth burned away by war and death. Black skeletons of burned trees greeted us from time to time, but else there was nothing. From my position on the dragon back, I couldn't see what was directly beneath us, but I could catch a glimpse through Ember's mind once in a while. But it didn't really differ from the scenery I could see on my own.

The cold wind blasted around my head that peaked over the protecting barrier of Ember's neck shield, and I was glad that I wore goggles that protected my eyes.

Dragons could fly for days, they would occasionally slow down to take up water or hunt for food, but they didn't need to land for that. And some dragons were even able to nap while gliding on a steady current, even though that didn't substitute for sleep entirely. But even without napping, a dragon needed only very little sleep.

But things were different with a rider; humans had to get down frequently, to counter the constant lack of movement or sleep. It was technically possible to sleep in full flight, but it was a risk, considering that the rider was at the dragon's mercy during that time, and most dragons weren't fond of their masters.

It was different with us though, I trusted Ember completely, so I slept on his back if I had to, but I preferred to sleep on solid ground, it just felt safer.

We should reach our destination soon, so hopefully there would be no need of sleeping on Ember; the plan was that we would stay in the village's inn for the night, and search for clues from there. The sun was closing in on the horizon, and as thrilling as night flights were, with nothing but stars and darkness around us, I wanted to reach the village before darkness.

The earlier rescue operation had cut into our schedule, so we had to make good on the lost time. When Ember started spiraling, I knew that we were close enough to search for a landing spot. I didn't want to pull any attention to us, so it was better not to land in sight of the village.

We landed near a forest that surrounded the village, it was still quite a distance, but for the sake of secrecy we would have to walk. I climbed down from Ember, using the folded wings as steps and then walked away a few meters to give him room for the transformation.

As soon as I was out of reach he unfolded his wings and wrapped them around his body. The transformation of a dragon was a breathtaking view, most of his body was obscured by the wings, but it was still obvious that he shrunk; the wings stayed the same though. Then when the human form was reached the wings dissolved into dark swirling mist that danced around the naked body until it disappeared.

Mathias was of course naked, but I was prepared. I took out his clothes that I had carried with me in a bag and handed them to him. His warm fingers brushed against mine when he took the bundle and he grinned at me, a rare sight, proving that he was in exceptional good mood. I always thought that he must have had a really positive and easygoing personality, but over time it got more and more dampened, until his cheerful side rarely shone through the serious and brooding outer layer.

A dragon didn't feel the cold as we humans did, so he didn't need as much protection from the weather. Mathias wore clothes that matched his scale colors, a pair of black pants stuffed in knee high black boots and a red silk shirt.

He immediately took the bag that I had lied on the ground next to me, and grabbed my hand with his pulling me along in the direction of the village. I would never admit it, but I liked his cheerful side, even though he tended to get a bit annoying. But it was so rare to see him like that that I just couldn't bring myself to mind.

We walked through the forest in silence, it grew darker by the minute, but Mathias led us surefooted through the treacherous undergrowth. The warmth that emanated from him was engulfing me so that I felt comfortable warm.

The sun eventually sunk below the horizon and it got considerably colder. The thick coat I wore to protect me from the cold winds up in the sky, kept me warm, but Mathias wrapped the arm that had been holding my hand up until then around my waist nonetheless. Now the heat was almost uncomfortable. But I didn't say anything, because I liked it when he showed affection. Yet another thing I would never admit to.

When we reached the forest edge, and there was only a short patch of fields left before we reached the village, we stopped, and I took of my coat that gave away my identity as Dragon Lord. I hid it in the branches of a tree; the robust material would withstand most things. Then we started walking again, under the coat I wore only a more or less warming jacket so we picked up our pace, even though Mathias was warm enough for both of us. But we couldn't stay too close to each other that too would only draw suspicion.

But when we neared the village I couldn't shake the feeling that something was not quite right. "There are no lights." Mathias pointed out, and I realized that he was right. Every window was dark and as we came even closer I could see that there were signs of neglect everywhere. There was no smoke coming from the chimneys, the plants in the gardens were growing wild, the hedges needed trimming and there were birds' nests on some windowsills. The village was abandoned.

We reached the first house and it became clearer and clearer that no one had been here for a long time. True, the war was close, but not that close, but maybe the residents didn't want to take any chances and decided to leave. I didn't know of any government issued evacuation but that didn't mean that couldn't have happened.

That would make it harder to investigate; since no one was there we could ask about my parents being here. But since I didn't want our trouble of coming here to be in vain, I decided to at least take a look around.

Mathias and I split up, scanning the houses for anything of value, which would probably be completely for naught. And as I walked towards the first house of my side, I encountered the first problem. The door was locked. But since no one was here I just smashed in a window and climbed into a room that appeared to be a kitchen. I took a quick look around, but of course I didn't find anything. As far as I knew my parents visit here had been kind of semi-secret so it was likely that they didn't stay at an inn, but that would mean they had to have known someone who lived here.

I continued my procedure of smashing in windows and searching the houses, the search made difficult by the fact that it was night, and most of the houses didn't have enough gas left to provide light.

I was nearing the limit of my patience, when I found something in a house that didn't seem so much different from the rest. It was lucky coincidence that I found it; I stumbled over a loose end of the carpet and caught myself at the edge of a dresser, tilting the piece of furniture in the process so that the top drawer slid open, swirling up dust that made me cough.

Something caught my eye, reflecting the pale moonlight shining in through the windows. It was a badge, a badge with our family's sigil on it. So my parents apparently had stayed here, but why? The answer hopefully lied somewhere here in that building, but the lights weren't working so further investigation would have to wait until tomorrow.

I had sent a mental call to Mathias, as soon as I had found the badge, so now I would have to wait until he arrived. I was about to turn around to check if at least the water was working, when suddenly strong arms wrapped around me. A warm body pressed against me and I could feel hot breath against my neck.

"Undress." Mathias whispered into my ear, and I shivered at the lustful tone of his voice. It was an order, and Mathias was not someone to be disobeyed in such matters. I raised my hands slowly and started undoing the buttons of my jackets, while Mathias breath warmed my neck.

I shed my jacket, my shirt followed suit and by the time my hands reached the top button of my pants I was slightly shivering at the cold that brushed my front and dwelling in the warmth that enveloped my back.

Mathias stood behind me the whole time, not laying a sole finger on me, and I knew he wouldn't until I was fully naked. My pants fell down, pooling around my ankles and after all this time I knew that shame wasn't going to help me so I shed my underwear as unresisting as the rest.

It didn't matter that this was not the right moment for this, it didn't matter that we were in the house of a complete stranger, that it was dark and cold and that this house had been empty long enough to leave behind a thick layer of dust on everything.

I stood naked in the middle of the room; Mathias had yet to lay a hand on me. I felt his arms brush against the sides of my neck when he reached up and around to fasten a blindfold over my eyes. What little I could have seen before now vanished completely into black nothingness.

Then I was lifted up into Mathias warm arms, pressed against his chest and carried through the house. The loss of my eyesight caused my other senses to sharpen, I could hear the wooden floor creak under Mathias' heavy steps; I felt his heart beating against my side and I could feel the atmosphere change as we entered another room.

I was dropped on something soft, and assumed it was the bed, but before I could orient myself further, Mathias had straddled me and forced my lips open with a violent kiss, biting down on my lower and drawing blood.

It never ceased to amaze me how Mathias could go from carefree and happy to a demanding and ruthless lover, just to be overly caring and loving in the next moment. Sex with Mathias was never boring, because depending on his mood it was either nice and fluff or wild and rough, and sometimes everything at the same time. And I gave him willingly what he wanted; because my heart had long been his, and I knew that his untamed heart was mine to be tamed.

Mathias tongue ravished my mouth, his hands were holding mine down; his body pressed me into the sheets, leaving me no room to move. Then he withdrew, his weight temporarily lifted off of me and when he returned he forced my mouth open and gagged me with another piece of cloth that he tightened around my head.

His hands trailed over my chest, tracing the scars he had left there so long ago. I heard the rustling of clothes and knew that he was undressing. I could still move my hands, so I used them to reach forward until I meet warm flesh; I brushed with my fingers over the skin, trying to determine which part of him I was touching. I could feel firm muscles underneath the skin, slightly moving with his breath and I concluded that it had to be his stomach, but before I could proceed towards his chest, my hand were trapped in his grasp and forcefully pushed down.

Then he was above ma again, pressing his weight on me and conquering my body with his mouth and lips, leaving no spot where he wouldn't nip or suck or lick. Then his hands joined in, caressing every inch of skin on their way. Circling around my nipples, pinching them, and all the while the cloth in my mouth drank up my moans of pleasure.

My whole body seemed to be on fire from his touch, the only sounds in the room were my muffled moans and Mathias breathing that was still calm and steady. And then his tongue flicked against my member that stood proud at attention by then and the gag swallowed another passionate cry of pleasure. Heat engulfed my length when he took it in his mouth, pressing his lips around the shaft and moving his tongue around.

My hands gripped the sheets and I arched my back, only to be pushed down and held in place by Mathias. Teeth grazed against the sensitive skin, the tip of a tongue slipped into the slit at the head and I was writhing in helpless pleasure under Mathias' unrelenting grip.

I could feel the tension build, but before it could release, Mathias pulled back and instead moved down and prodded with his tongue against my entrance. I gasped as much as that was possible with the gag, when his tongue slowly pushed inside of me, whirling around and wetting my insides.

Soon the tongue was yet again joined by nimble fingers which began to move and stretch. I was heavily panting and I craved Mathias' cock by now, but there was no way to voice my wish, so I tried to push down on the intruding fingers. The heat between my legs disappeared and with it the tongue in my ass and a light chuckle rang through the air.

"You're mine, and you will never be satisfied with anyone else than me." Mathias voice sounded close to my ear, his breath tickling my neck and I shuddered at the lusty tone. Then the fingers made place for something bigger and I groaned into the gag as he pushed his girth past the tight muscles and into me. He didn't stop until he was fully sheathed and he left me only a short time to adjust before he started moving.

My gag was removed so I could moan and scream unhindered and soon my voice filled the room, accompanied only by Mathias heavy breathing and the rustling of the sheets. He was an expert by now, able to hit my sweet spot in every position, and he would sometimes torture me by missing it intentionally until slamming into it at full force when I least expected it. But not this time, he hit dead on every thrust right from the beginning, flooding my body with immense pleasure.

I could feel my release nearing, even though Mathias hadn't touched me since he entered me, it wouldn't be the first time that I came just from that. I moved my hips to meet Mathias thrusts and screamed out in pure bliss as the increased force of the impact on my prostate made my world explode in white. Warm semen trickled over my belly as Mathias moaned my name and came deep into me, the tightening of my muscles from the orgasm sending him over the edge.

I was still panting hard, my body slowly calming down from the height of orgasm, Mathias warmth hovering comfortably above me. Mathias lips connected with mine, his tongue licked over the small wound he had inflicted earlier and then into my mouth. My blindfold was removed, but the room was so dark that the difference was only small.

Mathias heat still filled me and I was content to just lie there and feel the amazing warmth that radiated from my lover. Blue eyes shone in the darkness over me with an unreadable expression in them. "I'll never let you go." He stated and I shivered at the implications.

We were long past our initial deal; we had gone too far down the path of dependency. I couldn't live without Mathias, and if his words were true, he needed me as much as I needed him. But there were moments when I feared what would happen when our deal was fulfilled, when we had found and killed the murderer of my parents. I was afraid that he would leave me, like he said he would back then in the cavern. He was a dragon after all, he had lived for more than two thousand years, and he had still as much time ahead of him. What was my lifetime compared to that? Nothing more than a flicker of light against the steady burn of a candle. And his words could be nothing more than sweet talk to seduce me.

"Mathias?" I asked; the darkness gave me the courage to ask the question I had been afraid of for so long. He had lied down beside me, so I no longer could see his eyes looking at me. "When our deal is done, what will you do?" There was a short silence. "What do you mean?"

"Will you leave me?" I kept my eyes straight ahead, unblinking.

And then a snarl. "Do you _want_ me to leave?"

"…no."

"I told you, you're mine and I will never let you go."

"But why?" I couldn't help it, I had to ask.

"Isn't it obvious?" I didn't respond; I didn't know what he meant.

"I love you Lukas."

My eyes widened, this couldn't be true. "But you're a dragon, and I will die and you will forget me." I said, and I could feel tears forming in my eyes. Suddenly Mathias was on me again, his hands pushed me down into the cushions and his blue eyes glared at me. "I will never forget you, and I will most definitely never let you die." His hands dug painfully into my shoulders and his eyes bore down into mine, trapping my gaze in their blue light.

"You're mine." He said, his voice had a dangerous edge to it. "Your life is bound to mine; as long as you don't get yourself killed you won't die." I could only stare at him in disbelief. He lifted one hand up and placed it on the scars on my chest. "These marks protect your heart from giving out, and only I can erase them. That, I will never do."

"I didn't know that." I finally said, unable to tore my gaze from Mathias'. "Of course not, your human habit of breeding us with lesser dragons has dampened every form of magic dragons once possessed, but that power still runs strong in my blood."

I felt a smile form on my lips as all the implications of what Mathias had said hit me. I could live the rest of my long, long life with Mathias. I grabbed Mathias face and pulled him down into the most loving and caring kiss we ever shared, and with the kiss I poured every ounce of love I had in me into him. Because no words in the world could describe just how much I loved him. And I hoped the message would be conveyed through the bond that was formed by the curses that bound him to my will, clearer than I could have ever said in words.


	5. Secrecy

After that I fell asleep in Mathias' arms, dreams filled with the swooshing of dragon wings, the feeling of wind on my skin and Ember's warm presence beneath me. And I felt safe and loved, more than I had ever before in my life.

I was woken by the morning sun that shone through the window, its gentle rays warming my face. The familiar warm presence of Mathias next to me was missing and for a horrible lonely moment I thought I had imagined everything and that Mathias had left me. But I could still feel the softly humming connections that marked the curses that bound Mathias to my will. He was somewhere close. Dragons needed much less sleep than humans, even if they took on human form, Mathias usually got up long before me, but somehow I had thought that this time he would stay with me.

I opened my eyes and pushed myself in an upward position blinking around, seeing for the first time the place I had slept in. The room was empty, safe for a bed and a dusty wardrobe, I was surprised that there had even been sheets on, but I figured that whoever lived here didn't bother with undoing their bed. I also noticed that I had been cleaned up during the night; Mathias was always thoroughly with that.

My clothes lied neatly folded on the only chair in the room and I was glad that I didn't have to leave the room to get dressed since the air was still chilly. I put on my clothes and then went to look for the bathroom, eager to rinse out my mouth and get rid of the stale taste of morning breath on my tongue.

Then I went to go looking for Mathias. I found him downstairs in the kitchen, sitting at the table, a plate with some hopefully still edible leftover food from the owners of the house before him. His eyes were dark as he greeted me and I felt my heart sink. I was used to his brooding moods and dark aura, but after the night before I somehow expected him to be more like his true cheerful self. Maybe the confession of one's feelings wasn't as world-changing for a dragon like him as it had been for me. All the happiness and the ease that had formed inside of me, evaporated as I sat down and took the plate to start eating.

Maybe it _had_ been a dream.

Since when had I become so easily affected by his moods?

He was my slave after all; it should be the other way round. My hand clenched around the fork I was holding and I stabbed angrily at one of the pickles that had gotten left behind by its owner. "I found something." I said my voice sounded clipped, but right now I couldn't stand this forced silence. I know I should have talked to Mathias, but I had a hard time dealing with his constant mood swings right now.

The truth was; I just wanted to feel loved again, like I had the night before. And I resented Mathias for denying me that feeling, even though I technically knew that his mood was only temporary.

Mathias barely acknowledged my words, his eyes still dark and distant, which only enraged me even more. "I'm going to search for more clues, you stay here." I slammed my chair back, plate still half full and stormed out of the room. I knew I was acting childish but the disappointment over Mathias' absent demeanor was just too much for me to bear right now. Didn't it mean anything to him, what had happened yesterday?

Maybe I just needed to calm down.

I returned upstairs to the room I had found the badge in and I pulled open the drawer I had found it in. The drawer was filled with what appeared to be files and documents and I wondered if what I was looking for was on any of these papers.

It would be easier to call Mathias for help but I didn't want to, so I pulled stack after stack of paper out of the drawer and began skimming them for anything of interest. Most of the documents seemed to be accountings of war expenses, neatly listed in endless columns. The house had given no hint of their owner being military or government associated, so why were these here in the middle of nowhere? After the war expenses came lists of estimated losses of harvest income due to destruction and lack of working force, also caused by the war.

And down at the bottom of the stacks was a list of improvements that could be issued by a possible new government, and after that there were crude plans of establishing said new government, but lacking any form of detail to pin down just who was involved. The only tangible detail was the name of the operation; 'New Face'.

I couldn't quite believe what I had just read.

This was nothing short from treason, and highly dangerous. Whoever wrote these documents could be executed as a traitor if the Emperor found out. Just what did my parents have to do with these people? And why was their badge in this drawer with all these files?

A horrible suspicion formed in my mind, my parents had always been against war, but they never voiced their opinion loudly, instead they had refused their privilege to lead the army as Dragon Lords and every other duty or honor that came with being one of the head families and was war-related. Since they fulfilled their other duties without a flaw and he had more enough officers in his ranks, the Emperor had relented and let them be. But what if they had secretly schemed to overthrow the Emperor, and someone had came to know and thought it was better to get rid of them? Or what if the Emperor had known and let them be killed? In the Empire, traditions were firmly kept, disobeying the Emperor who was the highest entity, standing above everyone else, was the biggest possible crime.

But why spare me? Probably because we were still one of the seven head families and if they had killed me too, there wouldn't have been an heir left. The last time a head family got wiped out, the ensuing war between the lesser noble families had tainted the court red with blood in their strife for the vacant spot, and so it was unfavorable to provoke anything like that again. And I hadn't engaged in any treacherous activities so they maybe just assumed I knew nothing.

So to find out who had killed my parents, I had to find out who had lived in this house and who else was in on the conspiracy. And they could hopefully tell me who had killed them or at least who would have had a motive.

I could check the population data base back in the capital to find out who had lived here ,even though that would be pain in the ass, but it was a whole other story to find their current location. As with the war and the constant threat of having to flee and abandon their home, people hadn't been as diligent as they used to be, to report any changes in residence to the government, and the latter hadn't have enough spare resources to enforce the data acquisition.

And I had to get them to talk of course.

Gathering all the documents back into their stacks, I went through the rest of the drawers to look for some way of transportation. But all the other drawers were empty, which got me thinking, what had been in there, important enough to be taken along on the escape while the documents in the top drawer were left behind. Maybe those had been just the tip of the iceberg. But that meant that there was much more to the plan, and the thought alone filled me with silent dread. Holding these papers in hand alone was enough for a death sentence but being involved of the rest of the plan, whatever that was, was even worse.

But I couldn't care about that, I had more important things to do.

So I had to go downstairs and search the kitchen for it was the most likely place to have a bag in it. But by now I had calmed down, and more important things on my mind than Mathias mood and behavior. He was after all a tool to get my revenge, and for that I was going to use him. I wouldn't let myself get distracted by any more emotions; that could wait until I had avenged my parents.

With that I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Mathias still sat at the table, my order preventing him from leaving. I rummaged through the kitchen drawers and cabinets not sparing him more than a glance, and when I finally found what I was looking for I sent Mathias upstairs to fetch the documents. It was risky, but they held valuable information so I wanted to bring them along.

Mathias complied without a word, soon returning with his arms full of papers. How he managed to get all in one swoop was a mystery to me. Part of me noticed that the dark look in his eyes had finally vanished and that he tried to get me to look at him, but I concentrated on getting the documents into the bags rather than to acknowledge him. I couldn't let him distract me all the time.

After that we left in silence, retrieving my coat from the woods and then departing on dragon's wings towards home. The flight was uneventful, neither Ember nor I made an attempt at conversation, I merely stared down on the passing landscape and thought about what I had found today.

I had never been fond of the war myself, and before the death of my parents I would never have thought of joining the military. The war had resulted in the rise of taxes, but that mostly concerned the common people, nobles had to pay taxes too of course, but most of the noble families earned a fortune in selling metal ore or crops to the army, and since the price for those kind of goods had risen constantly they got back their tax expense tenfold.

The Emperor had tried to negotiate a tax relief in exchange for lower prices, but the nobles had refused, knowing very well they made a good deal already. So the burden was heaved upon the commoner's shoulders. Many sons were forced to join the army as the last resort to feed their families, and even though the pay was good, many of them never returned. And as a consequence many fields were fallow. This only increased the price for crops even further.

It was a hopeless situation really, and maybe my parents had seen that too and had wanted to change the situation. But now they were dead.

We flew for hours, but it seemed to be only minutes to me. But the hour was long past noon, when the towers of the capital finally came into sight. Even from the ground, approaching by car the view of the city was impressive, but there was nothing compared to the view from above.

The mighty dragon towers reached into the sky as if they attempted to spear the sun herself, their thick and heavy structure built to withstand the grip of a dragon's claw. Long arms poked out of each tower, wide platforms atop of them. On the platforms were also thick metal chains in order to bind a dragon to the tower if necessary, but they were rarely ever used. Tamed dragons could be bound with an order from their Master and it had been a long time since the last newly caught dragon had to be subdued with physical force before he was spellbound.

Some of the towers were connected to each other for support and allowing faster switching between towers if on foot. And beneath the towers lied the city, the hill on which the palace reigned, dwarfed by the giant towers, but it was still a look to behold, the white palace wall protecting the heart of the Empire, golden roofs glinting in sunlight that only graced them a few hours a day, when the sun was not obscured by the shadows of the domes.

Around the palace stretched out the city, its streets brimming with life and the many houses shining in countless colors. As we drew closer we could hear the noises too, wafting up from the streets, an unintelligible mixture of voices and the sound of hundreds of thousand people living in one place.

We closed in on one of the towers near the palace wall, Ember stretching his wings to slow his flight, approaching one of the platforms and landing on it with a heavy thump. Ember then cowered down to let me slide from his back and transformed into his human form right after. I didn't wait however, knowing that he would catch up as soon as he was finished, dropping the bags with the documents and his clothes in his reach.

I walked on the footbridge that connected the landing platform with the tower itself and through the door into the giant building. The insides of the towers were mostly hollow and filled with staircases that connected the different levels. On each level there were rooms, used for shorthand preparations preflight and some conference rooms for meetings of the Dragon Lords. There were also some rooms in the palace for war meetings, but sometimes it was easier to gather everyone here.

When I stepped onto the staircase leading downstairs Mathias had caught up to me, carrying the bags with our stuff and the evidence I had found in that house. There were plans on building elevators into the towers, but according the hired architects the static of the towers didn't allow additional shafts to hold an elevator so we were stuck on climbing hundreds of stairs to reach the ground. Fortunately there was a bridge that directly connected this tower with the palace hill, and so we didn't have to climb the entire way down, but left the tower on the fourth level.

The towers were closed towards the public, only Dragon Tamers and the Emperor had access, else a commoner could have used the shortcut to enter the palace grounds. The small door that led through the palace wall was guarded by a guard who simply waved us through as he saw the markings on my coat. It was too warm in the afternoon sun to wear the coat, but it was the only piece of clothing that showed off my rank. Mathias walked a few steps behind me, a silent and imposing shadow. I could feel his dark mood shifting every now and then; he had reverted back into it somewhere along the flight.

We entered the palace through the front gate, after the death of my parents I had no longer wanted to live in that house so I had abandoned it in favor of my palace quarters. We encountered some servants and a few other nobles on our way, the former acknowledging my presence with a respectful bow or curtsey, the latter greeting me with whatever they saw fit. I had not many friends at court, but also not many enemies so most people treated me with the respect they owed my status.

We entered my quarters and Mathias shut the door with a finality that instantly alerted me that something was wrong. I pulled of my coat in an attempt to act as if I hadn't noticed the threatening way Mathias had dropped the bags and now approached me with the stance of a predator.

"What is wrong with you?" His voice was low and dangerous as he took my wrists in an iron grip and pushed me back against the wall. "Nothing." I said curtly and tried to pull my hands out of his grip. "Let go!" I hissed as my attempts led to no avail. "Don't think you can fool me." He snarled, baring his teeth that were just a little bit pointier than those of a normal human. "You're acting all like a princess on whose dress someone stepped."

"And whose fault is this?" I snapped, and if my hands wouldn't have been restrained, I would have slapped him. "I don't know, maybe you tell me?" Mathias said, his voice dripping in sarcastic acid. I bit my lip in frustration, how could things have changed so drastically since yesterday?

"So?" He leaned closer, his mouth only inches from my ear. Since I couldn't move my hands I instead rammed my knee into his stomach, which caused him to double over and release me. I shoved him back and brushed past him, desperate to get some distance but he reached out and grasped my arm before I was out of range. "Don't… hah… walk away from me, please" His voice was strained with pain and he still held his stomach with one arm.

I stopped, but still didn't speak, but I let Mathias step behind me and wrap his arms around me, after he had recovered enough from my assault. "What is wrong?" He whispered into my ear, it seemed like his short encounter with my knee had forced him to come to his senses. "It's you." I said bitterly, glad that my back was facing him and I didn't have to look him in the eye.

"One moment you say you love me, and the next you are all cold and distant." I hated how my voice trembled; I hated how I had become so weak… and dependant. "I thought you loved me…" My voice was barely a whisper and I blinked against the tears that were building up in my eyes. "I do." Mathias breathed against my ear, sending shiver down my spine. "I never thought I could love another mortal, after…" His voice broke, and it took some time before he continued: "But I do, and there's nothing I can do about it, and I'm afraid, I'm afraid of losing you, as I once lost someone else who was important to me."

I couldn't help but wonder who Mathias was talking about, he had never much spoken of his life before he got chained down in the cavern, and he certainly hadn't ever mentioned someone who had been important to him. But then again maybe the memory was just too painful.

I raised my hand and placed it on Mathias' that rested on my side, a gesture of silent comfort. "I'm sorry." He whispered, "I never planned on this to happen, I only marked you so that no other dragon would lie his claw on you and I could devour you when our deal was done, but then I fell in love and now all I want is to be with you forever. So I changed the property of the mark so that it ties your life to mine." He buried his face in my neck, deeply inhaling as if to drink in my smell so that he would never forget it. "But you didn't answer, and so I thought that I was the only one, that I would lose you too."

"I did answer." I said, remembering the kiss we had shared. But obviously the message had not been conveyed. "I tried to tell you with my kiss that I love you too." Something wet dripped down my neck and I realized that he was crying.

"Mathias, what happened to you that you are so afraid?"

...


	6. Memories

**A/N: **I have thrown a tiny little bit of Norwegian history in there, but I claim in no way that I portrayed the mentioned persons with their true personality. I just used their names. Have fun reading ;)

* * *

There was a long silence that stretched out and filled the room, pressing against my ears and creating a suffocating atmosphere. I didn't dare to breathe. A single drop of salty sweat was running down my neck, leaving behind a moist track.

Then finally Mathias broke the silence, his voice barely audible over the rush of blood in my ears. "Have you ever wondered why I was imprisoned beneath your castle instead of being killed along with the other dragons?" Of course I had wondered that and why the only record of Mathias' existence was deeply hidden in the library so that only someone who was thoroughly looking for it could find it, and why the entrance to the secret passage was sealed for thousand years. As much information as the secret tome had given me, it had never explained the why.

"It was punishment." He lifted his head ever so slightly, resting his chin on my shoulder to speak past my ear, his arms gently placed on my hips as to ensure that I would not run from the story he was about to tell.

"Punishment for what?" I asked, my voice trembling against the thick atmosphere of the room. "I betrayed the trust of my master and let him die." Mathias voice sounded dead, his jaw was moving against the side of my head and I could feel his Adams apple press against my shoulder. It couldn't be comfortable to speak like this.

"I wasn't born into the service of the Bondevik family, I must have been bred by humans, but somehow my mother laid my egg in freedom. She was a red Shrieker, not a real dragon but close enough. My mother didn't last long, her body wasn't made to carry out an egg this size, so she died shortly after she had laid the egg, I found her body after I hatched and devoured her. It is, or rather was, common for dragons to feast on their deceased, in order to take on the memories of the fallen, that they never will be forgotten. That way I learned of my father, a true dragon as black as the Coal that gave him his name.

"But he was held captive by the humans, and some day I decided I would free him. But I was captured by your ancestors as I passed through their lands and they subjugated me, forcing me into their service. Only later did I learn that my father had died in his imprisonment, a true dragon is not made to be held behind bars; he will wither and die. I was young then and I had lived long enough in freedom to want to taste it again, so I fought against the humans. But in the end I couldn't break my shackles and was forced into submission.

"I serviced a long line of your ancestors, some were cruel, some were indifferent, some even cared a little, but no matter whom it was, I would always be bound and could only fly if they allowed me to, and eventually the call of freedom ceased until I was nothing more than a tamed pet." Mathias' arms wound around my body, closing the embrace and entrapping me against his chest.

"Until Erik Bondevik became my master, but I suppose you would know him under the name of Erik the Red." Erik the Red was one of my most famous ancestors, and infamous for that matter. He had been notorious for his cruelty and yet he had done good deeds for the Empire. It was hard to tell how much about him was exaggeration and what was true, but as I recalled he had indeed flown a dragon named Ember.

"Erik was a harsh master, but he was not unreasonable; he was the first who treated me as an equal, the first to draw out my true potential. And he fell in love with me, as I did with him. It was a secret, no one could ever knew, it was a crime back then to have intercourse with a dragon, the human race must not be tainted by the stain of a dragon's impurity. Erik was even forced to marry, so that no one would get suspicious. And then the Empire decided to invade the White Isles and we had to go to war. We fought many battles, earning the reputation that lasts on until today, even though much of it is false, but that is normal with legends. But war camps were not the ideal place to conceal a secret affair and we got discovered. The blame was entirely laid on me to spare the family the scandal and I was removed from Erik's care and sentenced to death.

"Erik was assigned another dragon, a younger one without battle experience. They were killed on an air raid, torn apart by enemy dragons; they couldn't even recover his body. I had marked him, and I would have made sure that nothing would have happened to him while we were out fighting, I would have protected him with my life. But I wasn't with him, I was bound and chained, unable to safe him." Mathias' voice was still bare of emotions, but his hands clenched into the fabric of my shirt, digging his nails painfully in my skin, but I didn't say anything, I only placed a comforting hand on his.

"I didn't know; the curses that were placed on me to subdue me, prevented me from sensing anything from him, until his daughter came to me, his wife had already died the year before from an illness. She was young, younger than you, when you came to claim me, but she had fire in her veins, fire that burned colder than ice. Freydis was her name. And she blamed me for his death, knowing that it would have been me with him out there, if I hadn't seduced him into falling for me. She knew that I had marked him, that his life was bound to mine and that I would have protected him. But I had let our secret slip, and now her father was dead, I had failed him.

"She herself placed the curse on my lower half, inflicting eternal pain on the organ that caused the demise of her father, and she herself chained me to the stone under your home. When she left she said to me: 'You will stay here and suffer for thousand years, because that is the amount of tears the world has shed over the loss of its greatest hero, and that is the amount of time it will take until the rage in my heart will have cooled down. And maybe, if you are lucky someone will find you then, for I will leave no record behind of your fate. The world may as well think that you are dead.' And then she left, she was the last human being I saw before you came."

He ended his tale and silence grew once more around us. Apparently Freydis hadn't held true to her words, for she had left behind the book with crucial information about Mathias, but I didn't understand why she had told Mathias otherwise. Maybe it hadn't been her who had written that book. But in the end it didn't matter who left that book, as long as it had been there to lead me to Mathias.

"I didn't think I would ever fall in love again." Mathias lifted his hands from the embrace and turned me around so that I would face him. "All I wanted to do is use you, like you humans have used me." His voice whispered close to my ear and the malicious tone made me shudder involuntarily. "I wanted to drain the same pleasure from you that so many of your kind have forced from me." He raised a hand and tugged back a stray strand that had escaped my hair clip. "I wanted you to fall for me. And in the end I would have shattered your heart into pieces before I would have devoured you."

His hand wandered from my hair to my lips, his index finger brushing lightly over the tender surface. "But then I fell in love with you." His finger dropped down again and his gaze followed, looking down on the floor. "And now I'm afraid of losing you too." A bitter laugh escaped his lips. "I have lived for nearly two millennia and yet I am dependant on your love like a child to his mothers." His hand rose once again to lie on my cheek, and he lifted his head up to gaze at me. "I can't bear the thought of you leaving me." A shadow passed through his eyes as he continued: "Maybe I should just end it right here…" His voice trailed off and he just kept looking at me, his hand still gently cupping my face.

I hadn't been able to speak before, but now I felt the need to say something rise in me like a violent tide crashing against the shores of a lonely island. "Why" I questioned while boring my eyes into Mathias' unwilling to let go of him, "is that a bad thing?"

Times have changed; it was no longer frowned upon to have an intimate relationship with a dragon, albeit most of those relationships could be described as abusive, seeing that the dragon had no actual say in the matter. But I knew that there were some out there that were consensual, although the dragons still were under at least some control. And as strict as the honor codex of the Empire still was, as a Dragon Lord I had free reign over what do to with my dragon and unlike old times the Empire couldn't interfere with my business, unless I would pose an immediate threat. I had to follow some ground rules though, especially while leading the Imperial army, but if I chose to love my dragon I could do just that.

The darkness in Mathias' eyes vanished and he looked at me with something that could have been a sad form of hope. "I won't leave you." I said; my voice toned down to a whisper, "I will be always with you, so you can protect me. I am yours, you said so yourself, so take responsibility and take care of me." I could see that Mathias was processing my words and I couldn't help but to contemplate the oddity of the situation. Here I was, trying to convince a dragon, a creature that could have killed me so easily like I would have killed a fly, to let go of his fears of the past and that it was okay to love me.

And yet, the thought of Mathias hurting over past events filled my chest with a feeling of tightness. And there even was anger, anger at my ancestors who had hurt and abused him and at the same time relief, that he was now here with me and I could make good on every wrong my ancestors had done him.

Something like this was never supposed to happen.

But it was too late now, I was in love, completely and irretrievable. And I wouldn't allow anything between us. Mathias eyes were glimmering now and the pained and insecure expression was gone. "You should understand what you are saying. " He leaned in on me, bringing his lips to my ear, a dangerous edge to his voice. "There's no turning back now, if you ever try to leave, I will kill you," Suddenly a hand was at my throat, sharp nails digging into the skin and I swallowed hard. "Just like this." I would never get used to Mathias mood swings, but I had to admit I preferred him being like this over the weak and vulnerable state from before.

He removed his hand from my throat and for a moment we just stood there, close but not close enough to actually touch and then with a whisper so light that I wasn't even sure if I heard it Mathias said, "Thank you," and took a step back.

* * *

After that our relationship had changed drastically, and yet it was the same in so many things. He was still my subject and had to follow my every order in public and everything concerning the search for my parent's murder, and behind closed door he would still force himself on me, not allowing any sign of disobedience, but it all felt different now. When he took care of me after another round of rough and demanding sex, I knew now that he did that out of love and even through that mentioned sex, I always knew that he would never truly hurt me. And every now and then we would exchange a glance or brush against each other and even though we rarely said it out loud, we both knew how much the other loved him.

I had used my privileges as a noble to find the owners of that house, but therecords held no data of their new whereabouts so I had only the names to go about. The owners were a pair of brothers by the names of Alfred and Matthew, both names I never heard before, although they had a connection to my parents. So I would have to try and find them myself.

The most likely soured for their whereabouts were the imperial population data base, but to get access to them I would have to go through the Imperial Administrator. The Imperial Administrator kept a sharp eye on everything that happened in the Empire; he would be the one to issue an evacuation order and would know where the evacuated people would be staying. So even if there was be no information in the data base he would be the one to know more details.

The only question left was how to get him to give me the information I needed. He was of a lower noble house, but his status gave him a higher position than mine, so I couldn't just order him to give me what I wanted. And of course I would prefer it if the Emperor wouldn't learn of my investigations. After the evidence I had found I had to be extra careful.

So it was time to speak to my friend Tino again. He was actually the only one at court I still considered as friend, but since my parents died we hadn't have as much contact as before. He was a fellow Dragon Lord, taking up his rank shortly after me, in an attempt to knit our friendship that was threatening to tear apart. It had worked somehow, but it hadn't prevented that a distance had grown between us.

Tino's dragon was a mighty beast, even bigger than Mathias, who was close to 25 meters; he had indeed the biggest dragon of current times, which was weird, because Tino's dragon was rather young, yet he reached the length of an ancient true dragon. His dragon was dark blue with a few yellow streaks on his back and carried the name Cobalt, but in his humans form he was named Berwald. Tino had followed my example and impaled his dragon with only the two necessary binding spells that allowed minimum control and maximum freedom.

Yes, Tino and I were quite alike, yet he couldn't ever know what I was up to, I knew his good natured heard wouldn't forgive my hunger for revenge. Sometimes I wondered how he could even stand being in the army, he was far too innocent to be in the midst of so much slaughter. But then again, I remembered the few times we had been out in battle together and the cold-hearted determination he had taken on. It was a terrible mistake to underestimate Tino Väinämöinen. He also happened to be good friends with Eduard van Bock who just happened to be the Imperial Administrator of the Empire.

But before I could talk to Tino that day, it was the day after our return; I was called to a short noticed meeting of all present Dragon Lords. A little earlier that day I had seen a bunch of Pearl Dragons landing on the Dragon Towers, whatever messages they had carried seemed to have led to this gathering. But I hopefully would be able to talk to Tino afterwards.

The meeting was held in the palace, since currently all Dragon Lords were residing there, aside from those on the battlefield, but they had been notified and those who were close enough had flown here and would arrive shortly.

So I collected Mathias who was lazing out on our bed, he was in an exceptional good mood that day, smiling more often and placing random kisses on my face from time to time. Our conversation the day before seemed to have lifted a heavy weight from his heart and he acted more carefree than ever. I highly doubted however that his good mood would survive the meeting, he was not particularly fond of the other Dragon Lords, or humans in general.

I informed him of the meeting, keeping a straight and almost bored expression that veiled all of my emotions. We both knew that I was putting on an act, but we also knew that it was necessary to deal with whatever would be said at the meeting. The world, aside from Tino and Mathias of course, only knew this side of me, an emotionless face that would never give away what I was thinking, and an indifferent demeanor. I had created that shield around me after my parents had died; I never wanted anyone close to me, for revenge had become the only goal in my life. And feelings would have been only a burden.

Still I had fallen in love with Mathias, but both his strength and his commitment reassured me that he would never become my weakness. And I simply would have to make sure that he would remove everyone who could become a threat.

With that in mind we made our way to the meeting room, Mathias walking two steps behind me, pulling on his façade of observant obedience to fool the world once more that he was nothing more than my humble and subdued servant.

...


	7. Duty

We walked through the palace corridors until we reached the meeting room, it was normally used by the Emperor's representatives to negotiate with the representatives of other countries, but the military leaders had also access to it. Two Dragoneers stood outside and guarded the doors, they saluted as I entered and ignored Mathias' quiet but nonetheless threatening growl. If it weren't for me, he would probably rip out their hearts to feast on them. I shot him an angry glare, reminding him of his position and the situation. I understood his anger, but there was no use in acting on it now.

I pushed open the door and entered, acknowledging those who were already present with a courteous nod; then I walked around the table to the seat besides Tino and sat down. Tino immediately leaned over and greeted me with a cheery "Hei." I returned the smile, albeit only halfheartedly and then leaned into him even closer to whisper in his ear: "I need to ask you a favor later." His eyes widened in curiosity and then he giggled. "_You_ want to ask _me_ a favor? That's new. But okay, I guess, how about we stay here after the meeting to talk? Or should we go to my rooms." "Your rooms would be better." I said and sat back in my seat to observe the rest of the room.

Mathias and Tino's dragon Berwald stood behind their respective Master, quietly overlooking the room and being a perfect display of a silent threat to anyone who dared to lay hands on their Master. The higher the rank the less control a Master seemed to need over his dragon. Most Pearl Dragons and most Dragons belonging to Dragoneers were heavily spellbound, but the dragons in this room only had a minimum of spells put on them. I had always wondered why that was, it couldn't be from the same reason why I exerted almost no control over Mathias, but maybe they had just formed a similar intimate bond to their dragon. I knew at least from Tino that he and his dragon had a very close relationship build on something that resembled trust.

The place to my right was empty, but next to Tino sat Antonio, a cheerful man with tanned skin from the Southern Isles, his dragon was an ill-tempered brat, at least in my opinion, named Lovino, but I was smart enough to never mention that in public. It was rare for them to be in the capital, they were stationed down in the South to protect the Isles from a possible aerial strike from the Federation, and usually they would skip out on emergency meetings since the Isles were too far away to reach here in time. But they had come to the capital a few days to report and get some well-needed rest. The dragon had a kind of dull coloring, a dark shade of olive green with no pattern, and I couldn't remember for the life of me what his dragon name was. Not that it was important anyways.

Across from me sat Ludwig, the highest ranking Lord and thus our superior and leader. He was a stoic man, who valued strict organization above anything else. It was mostly due to his firm leading and organizing that our meetings got anywhere; else we would simply argue endlessly and end up with no result whatsoever. His uniform was meticulously prim and spotless as usual, his slicked back hair not covered by his cap for once, the piece of head clothing lied inconspicuously on the table beside him.

His dragon was a really rare specimen, completely white, but when the sun shone in the right angle, his scales would glimmer in the colors of the rainbow, a truly marvelous sight, earning him the name Prism. This feature manifested in his human form too, his skin was very pale and his eyes kept the red from his dragon form. Rumors had it that Gilbert, who could be quite annoying at times, had been forced into submission by his Master's dominating side, behind closed doors. But I had never cared much for those rumors; they were of no interest to me or my plans.

Next to Ludwig sat Roderich, a quite snobby noble, who rarely ventured toward the battlefields, he preferred to be permanently stationed at the capital to oversee preparation and strategies from here. His dragon was one of the rare female ones that actually were used in battle. Female dragons had not as much armor scales than their male counterparts, their belly needed space to stretch during the time they grew eggs, so it was completely unprotected. The Empire kept female dragons for the sole purpose of breeding, their life could be nothing more than miserable for they were restricted from flying at all times.

But it was said that Elizaveta was as fierce and dangerous in the air as any other dragon, and her speed made up for the lack of armor. She had a beautifully green coloring, which allowed her to camouflage in woods or even grassland. Her dragon name was Emerald.

The other two Lords were still missing, and according to Ludwig's continued silence we were at least waiting for one of them. As if on cue the door opened at that instant and in walked the Lord of Kirkland, followed by his dragon Francis. Arthur seemed kind of disgruntled by something; the cause no doubt lay with his dragon, who carried a look of self satisfaction. Those two were notorious for their constant bickering, I had figured by now that there had to go on something at least mildly sexual or else Arthur would have perforated his dragon with as much spells as possible by now.

Francis, or Lilac was one extraordinary dragon, he had the flashiest coloring I'd ever seen on a dragon, violet with a shining red belly. If they had flown during the times when the Federation still had tried to counter the dragon threat with ground artillery they would have been shot down in seconds, but nowadays the color was rarely of any consequence anymore. Aside from night flights of course. Truth was, Pearl Dragons had to be covered with dark color in order for them to carry messages through the night, their bright coloring would else prove too much of an exposure under moonlight.

The moment Arthur sat down; Ludwig stood up and commenced the meeting. Apparently there would be only six Lords present today. That wasn't uncommon at all; the Lord that was missing was currently at the Western border negotiating a possible non-aggression-pact with the United Republics, who had edged around an alliance with the Federation for a long time now. In order to prevent the opening of a second front, the Empire had sent a Dragon Lord to appease to the Republic's council by stroking their ego; after all only important nations would be granted the honor of hosting a Dragon Lord, the Empire's finest warriors. And unlike the Eastern border that was pretty close to the capital, the Western border was at more than a few days flight distance.

"We had some reports of unclassified dragon sightings in the Northern region, but the nature of the witnesses' assertion suggested that it was nothing more than misjudged sightings of military units. Nonetheless a scrutiny was conducted, and our suspicions have been confirmed. There are non-military dragons close to our Northern border, far south from their usual hiding spot." That was indeed unusual. After the slaughter of dragons thousand years ago, the few that had managed to escape had fled to places far away from humans. And even if some of them had survived the Empire's reacquisition of their dragon forces, they wouldn't stray into human territory.

"We have out ruled the possibility of them being escaped military dragons, so that leaves the question, what are they and why are they here?" Ludwig smoothed out a document that laid before him, his boots made a clicking sound on the floor, a sign for his nervousness, which was again, highly unusual.

This couldn't mean any good.

"Maybe they are degenerated forms with no form of intelligence left? They could just have been gone astray?" asked Tino, with a small frown on his face. "Negative." Ludwig replied, "Our scouts have reported intelligent behavior, albeit it is a bit biased, since none of them knew how a wild dragon interacts with its surroundings in freedom. But there haven't been any reports on damaged livestock, so they at least know how to stay away from humans. A wild beast might just rip the easy prey and flee back into the safety of its lair. "

"So why don't we just kill them?" Arthur asked, placing his chin on his intertwined fingers and arching an eyebrow at Ludwig, a gesture that always had quite an effect due to the nature of his large and bushy eyebrows.

"How? The knowledge how to kill a dragon has been lost for centuries. Do you want to sacrifice your dragon, trying it?" Roderich asked with a well rehearsed aristocratic frown. "We know how to kill a dragon." Antonio said and leaned back in his chair, I didn't miss the uneasiness that displayed on Lovino's face. For them it must have been painful to listen to their master's talk about the killing of their kind. "The Federation does it all the time; cut off the wings in midflight and they just fall down, and when the impact doesn't kill them than the blood loss will."

"And just how do you want to achieve that? Hijack a Federation plane and try it out? I'm sure that would work just splendidly." Arthur growled. "We could just unleash Cobalt on them; I'm sure a dragon his size can tackle down anything." Tino exhaled in exasperation at the words, joining into the heated debate. As for me, I frankly didn't care about those dragons, if all they could prove useful as a distraction while I was investigating.

"Why don't we ask Ember?" the room's attention was focused suddenly on Mathias behind me. "As far as I understand, he was alive during the time of the dragon slaughter?" Roderich tilted his head in slight curiosity. I wondered why Ludwig hadn't interfered up until now, normally he would wait some time before he cut into the argument, but his usual time frame had been long closed. "He was confined under my family's estate in a cavern, how could he know what happened in the world above?" I stated calmly, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. This was pointless.

"So apparently we cannot kill them, so what are we going to do?" Arthur asked, and an almost invisible smirk was dancing on the edge of his lips. The question was directed at Ludwig, who had sat there silently and seemed to be absorbed into his documents. "There has been no aggression from their side yet, so we're going to send an envoy there and see what they're up to. We might even be able to 'convince' them of joining us." It was Gilbert who had answered in Ludwig's stead, his red eyes glowing faintly. It was unusual for a dragon to actively participate in this kind of meetings, but since Ludwig had obviously shared his plans with Gilbert and didn't mind his dragon speaking it had to be okay.

"I have never met any wild dragon." Mused Francis, now that Gilbert had spoken it was okay for the rest of the dragons to participate into the discussion. "I'd like to meet them." Elizaveta said a dreamy look on her face. "It sure would be nice to hear about the world beyond the Empire, and how freedom feels like." A collective sigh followed, every beast in confinement dreamed of freedom, although none of them had ever tasted it, except for Mathias. "You wouldn't like it." He said with a low growl deep in his throat. "They would tear you apart, the moment they would smell human on you. If they were truly wild dragon, that is."

"What do you know about wild dragons?" Ludwig's head snapped up, his blue eyes pierced into the eyes of Mathias behind me. I resisted the urge to look back at him. "They're wild, that's all you need to know." Mathias said, his voice was cold and final. He wouldn't share anything else on the matter. Ludwig and Mathias were momentarily locked in their gaze, cold looks moving back and forth, until Ludwig switched his gaze to me, a silent threat to get a handle on my dragon. I refused to budge, I wouldn't use force on Mathias to get Ludwig his information. If it were truly important, Mathias would have told him.

"Very well then." Ludwig extracted a sheet from the stack of documents before him and handed it over to Arthur. "You and Francis are going to pay those dragons a visit and see what they want. I'm pretty sure that they have something in mind by coming so close to our borders."

"And what if their intentions are unfriendly?" asked Francis, placing a protective hand on Arthur's shoulder. "We have reason to believe, that that is not the case, but you'll find any details concerning that in the file." Ludwig rose from his seat and took his cap, a clear signal that the meeting was over.

Ludwig walked out of the room, followed closely by Gilbert, and one after another the others followed until only Tino, Berwald, Mathias and I were left. "That was… interesting." Tino said with a lopsided grin, I just shrugged. "So let's go to my rooms then, shall we?" With that we too got up and left, walking through the corridors into the part of the palace were the nobles' quarters laid, and into Tino's rooms. Technically they were his parent's rooms, but they were living on their lands, doing all their duties from there, while Tino resided in the capital and led the imperial troops in the war, not an uncommon arrangements among the head families.

I motioned for Mathias to wait outside and guard the door against possible eavesdropper. It was highly unlikely that anyone would knew what I was up to, but I tended to be better safe than sorry in those matters. Berwald stayed discreetly in the back as Tino offered me a seat and something to drink.

I took a moment to quietly sip at my drink and think before I would speak. Even if Tino was a friend I still had to tread carefully, I could not let him on why exactly I needed to talk to Eduard the Royal Administrator.

"So, what do you want from me?" asked Tino, all the while gazing at me with the eyes of an eagle that had set his sights on its prey. He knew that something was up and he wanted to know what exactly that was.

"Have you talked to Eduard lately?" I asked, placing the glass of water on the small table between us. Tino was visible surprised by my choice of topic, so far we never once had talked about his friend. "Yes, actually I just talked to him yesterday, why?" Tino took his glass and led it to his mouth; his eyes didn't leave mine while he took a sip. "I need to talk to him." I said, placing my finger tips against each other while carefully sustaining a leveled expression on my face.

"Then just go and ask for an appointment, I'm sure you'll be granted one in no time." Tino replied, raising and eyebrow at my request. As a Dragon Lord I could have indeed just gone and schedule a meeting, he was expected to give the nobles preferred treatment. But since the Empire suffered from an excess of bureaucracy, that would result in an entry of our appointment in the Imperial records, something I'd like to avoid at all cost. And there was of course no guarantee that Eduard would even grant me access to the files I wanted.

"I would like this matter to stay _private_." Tino set his glass back, leaning into his chair and casting me a questioning glance. "Private?" I simply nodded.

"I see." A veil of casual lack of interest fell over Tino's face and I knew that he was hurt. He was my friend and yet I didn't confide my private matters to him. I could have told him then, that it would only endanger him if he knew, that I wanted to protect him and keep him from the danger I was hunting, but the truth was far simpler. I didn't want him to know because this was my game of revenge. Knowing him he would only try and talk me out of it or even go as far and wanting to keep an eye on me by joining me. Ever since my parents died, Tino had acted as a surrogate parent to me in an attempt to make me feel better. That had been the main reason for our estrangement.

No, I didn't want Tino to be part of his, in the end he would just be a burden to me.

I might have felt bad for thinking like that, but I simply didn't care anymore. Over the last two years I had given up on almost anything, save for vengeance, and of course Mathias. There was simply no point anymore to indulge myself in friendships and recreational activities. After all, none of that could help me in getting my revenge.

So I simply returned Tino's hurt gaze with trained indifference. "Fine." He said and stood up. "I'll talk to him." I got up as well, following him to the door; it was no surprise that he wanted me to leave after I had shut him out of my life once more. He opened the door to Mathias' back and I stepped through it, after Mathias had turned around and made space for me. "I'll tell him to let you know when you can come and see him." Tino's voice was calm, but I could see the anger rising behind his eyes. I knew him too well to think that he would let the matter rest. I would have to be extra careful from now on.

"Lukas…" For a moment he just looked at me, an inner turmoil visible in his eyes. "Take care, will you?" After all, we were still friends.

I nodded, without meeting his eyes. I wondered what he would think of me, if he knew what I was doing. If he knew that I still hadn't let go of the past and would not rest until I had found whoever had killed my parents and crush that person under the heel of my boots. No matter what it would cost me.

And what would he say, if he knew that somewhere hidden under the thick layers of tradition and devotion to the Emperor, was a conspiracy to overthrow the almighty ruler that Tino adored so much.

And would I even care about what he said?


	8. Dependency

**A/N: **Some nice anon asked for an oneshot showing how Berwald and Tino met, I actually never thought about that, but if you really want to read that I can think of something. Just let me know if more of you would be interested. ;)

And I'm not sure if I can keep up the weekly updates of this story like I planned to, I already had to move this chapter to one day later since Tuesday is just too busy for me to update then. I'll try to keep it weekly, but I have a kind of busy schedule now and I don't find as much time to write as I want.

The good part about having a dragon in intimidating human form walking behind you was that everyone left you alone. Of course no servant would dare to talk to a noble of one of the head families without permission, but other nobles and imperial officials would sometimes try and start a conversation in hopes of getting on my good site, and later profiting from my influence. And court protocol demanded that I treated everyone with a certain amount of respect, meaning I couldn't just ignore them.

It had been especially bad, back when I returned to the imperial palace after I had buried my parents in the family crypt and reclaimed Mathias from his stony prison. I had not yet dared to expose Mathias so I used to walk through the corridors and halls alone. And I was regarded as easy prey, a young lord who had unexpectedly inherited his parent's titles before he was ready, so I was presumably susceptible and would hopefully do what was told to him.

I tried to gain as much information as possible from those bootlickers, but the yield was barely worth the trouble. And after I had secured my position as a Dragon Lord, Mathias followed me everywhere I went, and his overwhelming presence frightened away most of them. And since no one dared to approach me anymore, I didn't have to act as if I would care about any one of them, I could simply ignore them.

I walked back to my chambers, the few servants I encountered bowed to me before shying away as fast and quiet as possible, the two officials I crossed path with, only greeted me with a curt nod and went on their way.

I pulled out the key when I reached the door to my chambers, I would never leave my rooms unlocked; not even the servants had a key. I had to clean up myself, but that was a small price for undisturbed privacy. I couldn't have anyone snooping around in my belongings after all.

I stepped through the door, closely followed by Mathias, who shut the door behind him. He had kept his mask on for the whole meeting and the time after, but I could feel his mood shifting underneath it.

I took a step forward, attempting to go to my desk and trying once more to sort out the bits and pieces of information I had gathered so far, but I was stopped by Mathias' arms around me. He didn't say anything he just held me there in place. And then after seemingly an eternity he finally spoke, his voice only a dark whisper against my cheekbone. "You're tainted. I can smell their stench on you and it makes me sick."

I involuntarily tensed. I knew what Mathias meant, he was born a free dragon, for him the dragons that were born in confinement were lesser beings and he looked down on them. But they were not the source for his disgust, as inferior as they were, they didn't choose their fate and so he begrudgingly accepted their presence. But he hated humans with a passion, and even though he had learned to acknowledge the existence of most of the Dragon Lords and even respected some of them, he didn't like it at all if I came in contact with anyone else. It was particularly bad in the capital where the root of the evil that was Dragon taming laid, as he hated the city and everything that lived in it.

Dragons had of course more sensitive senses than humans; even in human form they would be superior, so for him everyone who wasn't me carried a bad stench with them. Away from the capital it was usually easy for him to bite back his disgust, but returning to the capital always presented a newly fueled assault on his olfactory sense. He would prefer it if he could stay in my chambers for the first few days after return, for they only smelled like him and me, but since that wasn't possible as I needed him as backup, it often resulted in situations like this.

Mathias roughly grabbed my arm and dragged me to the other side of the reception room through a door into the living room and from there into the bathroom. His hands dug painfully into my skin and I winced but I knew it was useless to resist; as long as I wasn't willing to use my power over him I was no match for him at all.

I knew he needed to release all the pent up anger and frustration caused by the constant necessity to uphold a calm and uncaring front. Even after two years, he still had to suppress his rage.

But the truth was; I was more than willing to help him with that.

Mathias slammed the door shut and pushed me against the nearest wall, trapping me between his arms and pressing his lips against mine. He didn't wait for me to let him in; instead he pushed my lips apart with his tongue and forced me into submission with his aggressive assault. He took my hands and put them against the wall above my head, using one hand to hold them in place, while keeping his mouth on mine, don't granting me even a second to catch my breath.

I could feel his hot touch through the fabric of my shirt as his hand wandered down my chest. He pulled back just a little, to bite my lip, drawing blood and smearing the red liquid over my chin with his tongue. He gripped my shirt and pulled, ripping of seams and buttons alike until my upper body was bared to his hungry eyes. I was breathing hard by then, tension building in my body as Mathias continued to rid me of my clothes.

My pants flew to the ground in shreds and Mathias pressed his body against mine, his lips wandered along my jaw to the lobe of my ear to bite down again, this time gentler without breaking the skin. I closed my eyes and gave in into the heat of Mathias' touch as his fingers trailed over my stomach, over the hip bone to the inner thigh, playing with the soft fabric of my underwear oh so teasingly.

With an abrupt movement he tore the last piece that covered my body and grinded his lower body into mine, creating enough friction to make me moan. Heat was pooling in my abdomen and I threw my head back in pleasure.

A groan and I was turned around so that I faced the wall, Mathias' hands were on me, rubbing me until I was hard and lusting for more. I moaned his name and I could feel his finger wander, drawing circles around my sac, taunting the soft skin, eliciting wanton sounds from me. His body was slowly moving against mine, his clothed erection growing every second against my back side, his lips and tongue were nipping at my ear, always a sensitive spot, sending shivers through my body, making my hard member twitch in anticipation.

He pressed a leg between my knees, forcing them apart, he then lifted his knee to rub against the base of my member; his hands had wandered up against and were now playing with my nipples. His breath had become shallow by then; I could feel his hot breath against the skin of my neck.

"Just… hng… fuck me already." I commanded. I hated it when he teased me like this, acting rough and needy but refused to give me any release.

But this game was played with Mathias' rules and he was not yet ready to give me what I wanted. He continued rubbing against me, but refused to go any deeper with his hands. My hands were pressed against the cool wall, but I wanted nothing more than to move them down and palm my throbbing erection. As if he had read my mind Mathias whispered into my ear: "Don't move." He was playing with my nipples, pinching, prodding, caressing and my nails dug into the wall to keep them from reaching down and breaking Mathias' rule.

I could have just done it, overruling his word with mine, in the end I held the ultimate power, but that was not how this game worked. If I gave in to that, I would lose. If I broke his rule, I would be punished. And as delicious as his punishments were, there were days when I needed to obey, when _he_ needed me to obey, so I did, closing my eyes and biting my lips, everything to distract me from the growing need between my thighs.

Because sometimes it was essential to surrender control completely to Mathias.

I could taste blood where Mathias had bitten my lip earlier; my teeth had ripped the wound open again. Mathias was breathing against the back of my neck, his lips ghosted over my skin, barely touching and then he suddenly sank his teeth into my flesh, not enough to draw blood but forceful enough to create pain. My eyes shot open and I involuntarily arched my back, pushing my lower body downwards in the process and onto Mathias knee between my legs.

Mathias grew still and I froze, waiting for what he would do to punish me for my disobedience. It didn't matter that I hadn't done it on purpose, things like that had never mattered. He pulled back, leaving me pressed against the wall while he was walking through the room, preparing whatever it was that he had in store for me.

Then suddenly I was lifted up into his arms and carried through the room, the warmth of his body felt strange through his clothes against my naked skin. He carried me to the shower and put me down again, making me stand against the wall again like I had only moments ago. I heard rustling; he was undressing behind me, before he stepped into the shower and closed the glass door. I could feel the heat that radiated from his body; it was especially strong around the lower parts, he was more aroused than I if that was even possible.

But he still didn't touch me; instead he reached past me and put on the water. The first few seconds were agonizingly as the ice cold water poured over my body, but thankfully the temperature soon rose to a higher degree until it was comfortably warm. I closed my eyes again to protect them from the running water, my body more and more relaxing under the warm stream of water, only my still weeping erection was keeping me from fully enjoying the shower.

And then Mathias hands were on me again, tracing the ribs that showed through the skin of my back, pausing at the spots where the vertebrae were poking through the skin. He moved closer until his lips were at my ears again and he nipped at the lobe, grazing with his teeth over the sensitive area followed by the tender caress of his tongue. The sensation was odd, the water drowned most of it away; only the heat that pulsed through his veins remained and burned itself in my skin.

I sucked in air through my teeth as one of his hands made its way to my front and reclaimed the territory of my chest. His other hand disappeared from my back and I could hear the snap of a soap bottle opening and then the flow of water stopped. Mathias hands spread the creamy soap among my body, taking his time to cover every piece of skin in range, carefully massaging every trace of that smell that still lingered on me away. He took his time, and then finally, thankfully he reached the area between my thighs and he continued to massage the soap with meticulous diligence onto my hungry erection, each rub was accompanied by a soft moan.

I didn't notice when he got up, his hand was still on my member and that was the only sensation that made it through the haze that was my mind. And then without warning, without preparation, he pushed into me, the burning penetration only eased by what little soap he had put on his shaft beforehand. I couldn't bite back the sharp cry of pain; it had been too sudden and too surprising.

Mathias didn't wait for me to adjust; he just pulled back and slammed back into me again, this time though slamming directly into my prostate. Pain mixed with intense pleasure surged through my body, I was panting hard by then, my hands sliding down the slippery tiled wall, but I still hold on to it because there was nothing else. And then there were arms around me, strong and warm arms, gripping my hands, holding me in place as my body was continuously shaken by Mathias relentless assault.

My soap covered body was pressed against Mathias' chest as he continued to thrust into me. I pushed back my hips into him, to deepen the penetration and to increase the intense sensation. Mathias grunted in pleasure and then he bit down on my neckline, I let out a moan and then there was no holding back anymore. I openly voiced my pleasure, I moaned against the wet tiles, I panted, I gasped, and Mathias played on me as if I were a finely tuned instrument.

The pain was long gone, leaving behind only pleasure and bliss. Suddenly Mathias pushed my head against the wall so that my check was pressed against it, and then there was nothing, no contact except his member inside of me and the rhythmically slap of skin against skin.

My vision was blurring, Mathias slammed continuously against my prostate and I wouldn't be able to hold back any longer. Heat was pooling in my abdomen, and even without Mathias touching me, my erection was close to bursting. My orgasm was building up, despite the uncomfortable position I was in, but there was still something missing.

"Mathias… ahh… please, I need… hng… you." I forced the words out through the panting, and as if that had been the sign Mathias had waited on, he pulled me back into his arms and I came. With his name on my lips I sprayed my release all over the wall, my body was shacking from the power of the forceful orgasm and I sank back into Mathias' chest, legs gone weak, all supported by his strong arms.

Mathias thrust a few more times into me, before he too came deep inside of me, pressing his face into my neck, muffling his moans and coating my insides with his essence.

We both took a moment to calm down again; the aftermath of the intense high took its time it allowed us to calm down. Mathias arms were wrapped around me, comforting me as he whispered into my ear: "I love you." And I couldn't help but smile and I raised my still soapy arm, bending it backwards to lay my hand on his cheek, feeling the heat that was radiating from him and whispered back: "I love you too."

"When this is over, I'm going to take you away from here, I will show you the world through the eyes of a dragon, I'll bring you to places you have never seen before and I will love you under the stars as many times as I want." His voice was hoarse, not as hoarse as mine was from the constant moaning but laced with thick emotion.

I interlaced my finger with his, as he placed his hand over mine, feeling the faintest hint of a smile forming under my touch. How come that the man who had just fucked me so rough against the wall of my shower could be so sweet and sappy in the next moment?

I wondered what I would be like after I had lived for thousand years.

And if I managed to not get myself killed I would maybe even reach the age of a millenium. After all Mathias was still considered a young dragon and as long as he wouldn't grow tired of me I could stay with him and live as long as he would. But I would have to be careful, what I had discovered so far of the circumstances of my parent's death and the conspiracy they had been part of, things could very well get pretty dangerous.

Was it really worth it?

My parents were dead, no matter what I did to their murderer, they wouldn't come back. And what point laid in getting revenge when I had the chance of living an almost immortal life, without aging, sickness or disease?

For the first time I was having doubts about the path I had chosen. Tinos worried expression floated before my inner vision and I wondered again if it was truly worth it. I had no other friend than Tino left, and even he wouldn't stay any longer after how I treated him.

I didn't need anyone besides Mathias though.

But what if he got killed because of me? Using him in a war was of course placing him in the face of danger. We could just leave instead and do what Mathias had just said we would do. Why waiting?

The newly switched on water interrupted my moment of reflection, my doubts all were washed away with the warm liquid that flowed down my body. I had put two years of effort into my revenge, there was no way I would stop now. Mathias could take care of himself and I wouldn't die so easily either. We just had to be careful.

Mathias made sure that I was thoroughly washed and cleaned before he allowed me to step out of the shower. I picked up a towel from the cabinet under the sink and dried up, Mathias rarely used towels; he just shook to get rid of as much water as possible and then would wait until his body heat had dried away the rest.

When I returned to the living room, I saw that an envelope was lying on one of the side tables in the reception room. The only person who was allowed to enter my room was the imperial courier, who would deliver letters and messages. He was sworn to discretion by law and would only enter the reception room to deposit his delivery if I was not at home, or like today simply not answering the door, because I was occupied otherwise.

The envelope bore the official seal of the imperial house with the initials I. A. beneath it, representing the Imperial Administrator.

So Tino had kept to his word and arranged a meeting.

It was time to go investigating then.

...


	9. Negotiation

**A/N: **So I decided to write that SuFin sidestory, and maybe I even write sidestori(es) for the other pairings too if anyone would want that. But it will take a while since I'll enter quite a busy phase at the uni next week, so please be patient. I'll write an author's note once it's finished ;)

* * *

Eduard van Bock's office was in the upper level of the Imperial palace, two Imperial guards were positioned before the door to make sure that everything went as planned and as an addition to protocol everyone who was coming and going and report to the Emperor once a week.

During the times of war the ruling line of the Empire had grown more and more paranoid, the current Emperor was especially bad. He wasn't a bad ruler, but he suffocated his staff with rules and bureaucracy, wanting to know every bit of information that was exchanged behind the doors of his palace.

But he couldn't afford to offend the nobility whose money he needed to fund his war, so his spying eye only went as far as we allowed it. And even if he dared to overstep that boundary, every noble family, be it high or low owned a dragon who would sniff out any magic, any device or any spy that tried to intrude on their masters secrets.

Because of that Eduard had scheduled our meeting in his own private chambers instead of his office, so instead of going up a level I instead ventured into the left palace wing, where the rooms of the lesser houses were situated, Mathias always right behind me.

I knocked on the door that led to Eduard's chambers, thinking about what I could tell him and how far he could be trusted. He was a friend of Tino's, but my relationship with him could be best described as rocky, somehow we had gotten off on the wrong foot and neither of us had ever attempt to mend that.

The door was opened and I was faced with the Imperial Administrator, a serious looking guy with glasses and meticulously trimmed hair. He was clearly not pleased to see me, but waved us in nonetheless, closing the door behind Mathias after he had checked that there was no one on the corridors who could have seen me enter. Apparently Tino had relayed my wish for discretion.

Eduard's rooms were smaller than mine, despite his high office he was only member of a lesser noble house so he didn't get the same privileges as the head houses. It was yet another sign of how deep the Empire was stuck in this mess of tradition and customs that held no more use in modern times like this. But those traditions were the foundation of the Emperors absolute ruling power, thus he wouldn't even think of abolishing them. And the noble houses who were the only ones who had the means to put an end to the Emperors reign derived their own power from these ruling conditions.

In reality the balance of power was rather unstable. Even though the Emperor had absolute say in everything, at least theoretically, he had to please the head families, for he was dependant on their financial support, so basically much of the true power lied in our hands. But the head families were far from being as united as they often claimed to be, so despite the power we held, we had to tread carefully. There were old feuds flaring under the surface, some of the Lords wouldn't mind it at all if the family of their rival would be disgraced or even annihilated. And lesser Lords would jump at the opportunity to take over the vacant place; some would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. A small error on my part and I would be doomed, being the only living member of my family, I was easy prey. Should anything befall me, my line would be lost. But so far Mathias' threatening presence had protected me from any assault.

Eduard had led me into his private study, the walls lined with bookshelves, a heavy oaken desk dominated the center of the room, papers strewn among it. He sat on the chair behind the desk and motioned for me to sit down too, his eyes scrutinizing me and I could clearly see that he wasn't happy at all to have me here.

Mathias took his place behind me, quietly observing while I sat down, smoothing my shirt and preparing myself for the following.

"So what do you want?" Eduard cut right to the chase, leaning forward on his desk, brows slightly furrowed. "I need access to the Imperial population data base." I stated bluntly, not caring to sweet talk myself into it, with a man like Eduard that wouldn't have worked anyway.

"Why?" An eyebrow flicked up just barely noticeable but for those who knew Eduard it was an unmistakable sign that he was annoyed.

I leaned back in my chair, elbows on the armrests and fingers entwined before my chest. "Private matters."

"You know that there are certain steps to be taken to be granted access, so why would I allow you to bypass these procedures?" Good question. I highly doubted that the friends-with-Tino card would get me anywhere. But could I trust him with the truth, even though only part of it?

Eduard was a man who held order in high value, he did his job very dutifully and diligent and he hated inefficiency more than anything. I knew that he was quite unhappy with the current situation and all the money that was wasted away into the war and could be put to a far better use. But was that enough to support a cause that was considered high treason? He was an important part of the Empire's administrative system and the documents I had found had mentioned some connection to the administration. It would be almost impossible to establish a new government without his consent. He was the only one who had the insight into the current government's structures to ensure an organized takeover. But still that didn't mean that he was involved onto the conspiracy.

There was only one way to find out.

"Do you still have that old assistant of yours? You could use some _new faces_ here, don't you think so?." I said casually, monitoring his expression closely for the slightest hint of recognition. Eduard's face paled instantly and for a moment he looked as if he had lost it completely but he regained his composure rather quickly, leaning forward and speaking with a dangerous edge to his voice that made Mathias tense behind me. "What do you know about that?"

So I was right.

"I know enough." I simply said, still carefully observing his every move. "So they told you." Eduard said calmly, his posture only relaxing slightly as he let out a weary sigh. For a moment I couldn't follow, I didn't understand what he meant, but then everything clicked into place. He was talking about my parents who were involved before they had been killed. All the time I was searching it had been here, right in front of my eyes, the answer I had been looking for so long.

I leaned forward my hands gripping the edge of the desk, as I brought my face close to Eduard's. "What do you know about my parent's death?" I asked, knuckles white with the effort not to jump Eduard and shake the answers right out of him. Mathias stirred behind me, sensing my unrest but not yet alarmed enough to intervene. His presence behind me was like a flame, steadily burning, calming me down enough to release the innocent desk and evening out my breath that had slightly accelerated.

Eduard seemed surprised at my outburst, but if it was from the suddenness of my outburst or another reason, I couldn't tell. "So you don't know?" He asked; mild wonder present in his voice. "Know what?" I replied tersely. He sighed, suddenly looking tired and older than his age. "I shouldn't tell you this, if you don't know it by yourself." Mathias growled a warning, reminding Eduard of the power balance in the room.

Eduard's eyes darted towards Mathias before they resettled on me. "I'll tell you, but in exchange you tell me why you want to look into the Imperial population database." There was not really much to think about, if I could get any information about my parent's death I could at least share some information, maybe Eduard could even help me with my search for Alfred and Matthew, hell it was even possible that he knew them.

"Fine, you first." I accepted, Eduard didn't seem too thrilled about the prospect but he started nonetheless. "As you might already know, your parents were part of the 'New Face' plan, the contents of which I won't disclose further than this; there are certain parties in the government that are intent on thwarting our plans. They only know a fraction of our plans, but not enough to put an end to them but they still pose a certain threat. They somehow learned of your parent's involvement and decided to leave a warning for the rest of us." Eduard finished with a nod that could qualify as sympathetic, but otherwise he kept his composed expression.

"Who?" I pressed through gritted teeth; I was so close to the solving of that mystery, closer than I had ever been before. "I can't tell you." It was hard not to jump at him, I wanted to force the secret out of him, ripping the truth from his tongue, Mathias behind me tensed again, ready to strike at my order, but I controlled myself."Why?" I hissed. "I can't tell you, because I don't know."

Slowly I eased my muscles back into relaxation, and Mathias too released his tension. "It's not safe for everyone part of the plan to know everything about it so we only know a part, and my part doesn't include our enemies." Eduard explained, placing his hands on the table, finger outstretched as a submissive gesture.

Mathias snorted behind me, "You should always know your enemies." He was right, but I couldn't dwell on the obvious flaws in this 'New Face' plan.

"So who knows?" I asked, but Eduard just shrugged, "That was not part of the deal." Again Mathias growled, but Eduard didn't seem intimidated. "I wouldn't recommend trying to force the information out of me; I have certain precautionary measures in place to make you regret that decision very deeply." He inclined his head, pointing towards a boy who had appeared in the doorway without any of us noticing. He was blond and could be no more than twelve years old and was rather innocent looking, but the way he carried himself showed a distinct feral air, implying he was more than he looked. I remembered Tino talking about Eduard's dragon, a young one, still a child, but a dragon nonetheless. He was no match for Mathias, but I couldn't afford the attention a fight between dragons would ensue.

With a sigh I leaned back into my chair, a silent sign for Mathias to relax again.

Eduard nodded, and the boy disappeared again, as silent as he had came. Mathias hadn't noticed him either, despite his sharp senses, that was more than unusual, I only hoped that this dragon was the only one who could blindside him.

"So what about your story?" Eduard tapped a finger against a stack of papers that was placed before him and casting me a curious glance. "What are you looking for?"

There was no point in lying, and with the amount of information that Eduard had ahead of me, there was no real risk of revealing something that he wasn't supposed to know. "I'm looking for the murderer of my parents." I said my voice bare of any hint that would give away how obsessed I truly was with my quest for revenge. I always made sure to never let people in on how much I needed or wanted something, that just gave them power over me and I didn't want that to happen. The only one who was allowed limited control over me was Mathias, and it would stay that way.

"And you expect to find them in the database?" Eduard asked, doubt clearly written over his face. "No, I expect to find someone who knew them and might know something about it, unlike _you_." It was unnecessary but I couldn't help but rub his lack of knowledge into Eduard's face. As Imperial Administrator he was used to be well informed, and sure enough if the sour look on his face was any indication, he didn't like being uninformed it at all.

"And just who might that be?" Eduard sounded not amused at all, his voice was curt and I would probably regret it to have pissed him of. "Alfred Jones and Matthew Williams." I said, while I once again kept a close eye on Eduard's reaction. And again I was not disappointed. An expression of shock flashed over his face, but he quickly hid it, replacing it with a careful poker face when he asked: "Who?"

At any other point I wouldn't have expected him to know those two, but with all that he already knew about the 'New Face' plan I actually had reason to believe that he not only knew them but most likely also knew their current location. So with his reaction he had confirmed my suspicion.

"Don't play dumb, you know them, don't you?" I asked, by then my patience was running thinner and thinner, I didn't have time for endless chit chatting and if Eduard didn't grant me access soon I would rethink on unleashing Mathias on him. Eduard sighed, he had slipped up earlier and we both knew that I had seen it, so there was no real point in trying to deny it any further. "Yes I know them, but I won't tell you where they are." So he really knew their location that meant I didn't have to file through the database; that would save me a lot of time.

"Why not?" I clicked my tongue and stopped the tapping of my foot that I had just started earlier. My impatience threatened to show through. "They're safe where they are and I don't need you to jeopardize that safety." "So there is something they need protection from?" I raised an eyebrow, nailing Eduard with my eyes. He flinched slightly, realizing that he let a piece of information slip that I was not supposed to know. A soft but still audible intake of breath behind me alerted me to the thin layer of sweat forming on Eduard's head, so he was getting nervous. Considering how long it had taken for him to actually lose his cool, the man was pretty impressive, but he should really work on his mimic, he let things show on his face too easily.

"We have two options here." I said; it was time to put an end to this. "One, I play nice and ask kindly for you to tell me where I can find those two, I'll even reassure you that I won't hurt them. Or second I play dirty and threaten you with spilling your little secret, or should I call it your big, treacherous, sure to buy you a ride on the execution train secret? You see, either way I'll get what I want, so why you don't just tell me now?"

It was hard to miss the look of disgust that flittered over Eduard's face, and this time he didn't put any effort into hiding it. I didn't need to look to know that Mathias behind me had replaced his stoic expression with a threatening one to enhance my words.

Eduard's eyes flicked towards the door, and I could almost read his mind as he was contemplating if it was worth to call my bluff, if he should risk a fight between his dragon and Mathias or if he should give in to my demand. In the end, the answer was exactly as expected.

"You promise me you won't hurt or get them into any danger?" He asked, but it was only a formality. If I had wanted I could have gotten the information without the promise, but I didn't plan on doing them any harm anyway so I might as well comply. "Yes, they will be safe." I said and after a short exchange of glances, mistrusting and doubtful on his side and determined and unyielding on my side, he gave in. He pulled out a blank piece of paper and scribbled something down then he handed me the sheet.

"I wrote down their location and how to get there." I nodded and took it, but Eduard held on to the sheet and bore his eyes into mine. "If you plan on breaking your promise I just want you to know that we have means to get you, I might seem weak and insignificant to you, but you can believe me we're not and if you should ever betray our trust you will regret it." Only then did he let go of the paper, glaring at me as if he personally would deliver the final blow if I should ever dare to summon their wrath. For a moment I was tempted to ask him if it was their 'might' that had protected my parents, but I chose not to, I knew after all that it was mostly his hurt pride speaking.

And I wasn't truly concerned about his threat, I had seen Mathias fight and I was sure he could take on almost everything. Still it wouldn't hurt to be careful.

"Very well." I said, folding the paper before I put it into my pocket. "But I guess I should return the favor." I had stood up and now leaned over the desk, my hands on the cool wood as I brought my face close to Eduard's. I knew from experience that most people felt the stare of my soulless-appearing eyes as unsettling, even more in close range. "I should let you know that if this turns out to be a trap, I will find you and then I will personally rip your tongue out so that you can write down the truth with your own blood."

Eduard paled slightly and I pulled back, turning around without a second glance and left the room, followed by Mathias, whose steps were silent as ever. Eduard should really take some lessons how to threaten people the right way.

But I couldn't help but wonder, while I strode through the corridors back to my room, if I had just forfeited my friendship with Tino, for he surely wouldn't forgive me that I threatened his friend.

Maybe it should have bothered me more that at that thought I barely felt anything, not even remorse.

...


	10. Break

**A/N: **I've already said this in my other story, but In case you don't read that I'll repeat it here; This and the next week will be insanely busy for me and I won't get much time to write, if I get time at all. Hopefully things will get better around Christmas break, but if this story won't get updated for a longer period than usual don't worry, I definitely will be back ;)

Also I have started on that SuFin side story but it will be posted, when we have progressed a bit in the story. If anyone wishes to have a side story to any other of the character pairs just let me now and I'll see what I can do. Have fun with this admittedly a bit pointless chapter that doesn't help the story's progress that much. At least there are steamy times ahead 3

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I returned to my rooms to think about what I had learned and to plan my next steps. It was late in the afternoon and the place Eduard had written down wasn't anywhere close so there was no point of going out today.

We entered my room and I locked the door behind us. It was unlikely that anyone would try to enter without my permission but I felt safer that way. I didn't want to get killed in my own four walls like my parents. Of course, what protected me was not the door, the door could easily be broken, but Mathias' vigilance, still I slept better with the door firmly locked.

But it was far too early to go to sleep, so I decided to eat dinner in my room, and afterwards pay a visit to the hot springs that lied underneath the castles and were reserved for the Emperor and the nobles. In ancient times the hot springs had warmed the castle above, but nowadays its main value lied in its recreational properties. But only few found the muse of using them in times of war. I always went there when I needed to think and couldn't find the necessary tranquility in my room.

There was a network of servants catering to the needs of the inhabitants of the palace, some nobles preferred to bring their own servants but I had to rely on the palace staff whenever I needed something that I couldn't fetch myself. There was a telephone system installed in most rooms, the reception wasn't very good but enough for crude communication. So called the kitchens to order something to eat, before I sat down at my desk and took a good look at Eduard's note.

Mathias, who knew when he had to better leave me alone, disappeared into the adjacent room that functioned as his room whenever I needed time for myself. There was not much information on the note aside from a city name and an address, so I unrolled a map to pinpoint the exact location. It was a town in the northwestern mountain range, small and isolated the perfect place to hide and still close enough to the capital to be reached in less than a day's flight.

It didn't take long for the food to be delivered, a soft knock on the door and Mathias went to fetch the food while I was clearing some space on my desk. I didn't have a real dining table; I avoided it to host guests so only a desk was enough for Mathias and me.

"So, where are we going next?" Mathias asked, with his mouth full of half cooked bloody meat, about the only dish he ate. I had long given up on teaching him some manners, he knew them well enough but he only used them if we were in company. After arguing that he only let his guard down like this in front of me, I couldn't find the heart to press the matter further, even though I realized that he was only playing me.

"North." I answered, chewing carefully on my crispy cooked meat, "You'll like it, the place is pretty remote and surrounded by mountains." Mathias chuckled lowly as he continued to tear into his meat, even though they were technically carnivores, dragons didn't like raw meat, they preferred it cooked or grilled, when hunting they used their flame breath to barbecue their prey, often burning it to a crisp, in human form it was mostly the same, albeit Mathias liked his meat almost raw and only lightly cooked.

A trail of meat juice ran down Mathias chin and I couldn't withstand the temptation and reached forward to take the fluid up with my finger, resting my hand there a moment longer than necessary before I licked my finger clean. A low growl was my reward and a certain glint ignited in the eyes of my partner, but for now he contended himself with eating his meat and watching me with promising intent.

"I want to go to the bathhouse afterwards." I said casually as I weren't aware of his staring. Now Mathias was licking his lips in expectation and I couldn't suppress a shudder as his gaze bore into me. He was quite aware of all the implications that simple statement of mine held. This was proving to be more than promising.

We finished our meal quickly and while I was putting the dishes away, Mathias gathered everything we needed for our trip to the bathhouse. Actually there was no real need to go there; I had a shower in my bathroom, but after the busy past few days I felt like we could need a break. And it wouldn't hurt to relax a bit before our trip tomorrow, I had the slight feeling however that Mathias wouldn't let me truly relax, but that was fine with me.

Mathias held open the door when we were finally ready to go and since the corridors seemed empty I grabbed his hand in mine, a gesture of affection I couldn't use in public. His hand was warm, almost burning against my skin but I had learnt over time to not only rely on this hand but also to cherish its touches.

The palace never slept, so we had to let go of each other as soon as we entered the main part of the building where more people were still buzzing around despite the already late hour. But the corridors emptied again as we reached the lower levels, and soon we were alone again.

Mathias slung an arm around me, engulfing me in his radiating warmth, making my breath hitch as I felt his hand on me. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" He whispered into my ear, voice hoarse and his breath hot against the sensual skin of my neck. I could instantly feel my heart rate increase and I let out a deep breath that sounded more like a moan. The compliment had come completely out of the blue, Mathias never was the type for sweet talk, he much rather preferred to shake my composure with dirty talk or just tease me, but this had caught me even more off guard.

I was not used to being complimented.

A light chuckle and a kiss was pressed to my temple, "I should tell you this more often." Mathias mused and I briefly pondered if I could deal with more compliments like this, it felt not bad after all.

We reached the entrance to the underground bathhouse, a big sturdy wooden door, built to keep the heat from the hot springs inside the chambers. The access to the area was restricted, and to make sure that no one disturbed the privacy of the bathing nobility a lonely guard was posted outside the door. He cast a non-curious glance at our intimate contact to each other before he opened the door. The guards of the bathhouse were used to unusual sights and as part of their duty they had been sworn to discretion. As much as most nobles wanted to get dirt on their rivals they all preferred to keep what happened behind those closed doors a secret.

To my utmost pleasure the bathhouse seemed to be empty upon entry and I left orders with the guard to keep it that way. The bathhouse was frequently used by some of the nobles and especially during the war the interest in a nice relaxing bath had significantly increased but another silent agreement among nobles was that no one would interfere if one decided to occupy the bathhouse, as long as they didn't abuse the privilege.

The first room was a small one, only meant to separate the changing area from the entrance, the second one was bigger, stone tiles covered the floor and there were compartments embedded in the wall to store one's clothing. The bathhouse was big enough to accommodate quite a number of people and there were even a few private changing rooms behind a side door but most preferred to get undressed in the changing room. The behavior inside the rooms was regulated by a strict code that everyone abode to, else he would be dispelled from ever using the bathhouse again. That was enough to prevent stealing or other illicit actions and so the bathhouse had become an island of peace among the scheming snakes nest that was the Imperial palace.

Mathias and I quickly undressed; storing our clothes in one of the compartments, since we were alone there was no need to put on one of the bathrobes that laid out for public use. Then we entered the main area, where all the pools and hot spring basins were situated, the room was warm and full of steam, the tiled walls were wet with condensed water.

Before I could decide though which basin to enter first, Mathias had already lifted me up into his arms and carried me towards a large yet shallow pool full of what appeared to be very hot water. I doubted that my system would like the sudden confrontation with a too hot environment but then again my connection with Mathias had made me more robust than the average human and so my system should be able to handle the drastic temperature change.

Carefully as not to slip on the wet floor, Mathias stepped into the pool lowering himself down until he sat on the bench like structure that lined the inner walls of the poor, placing me on his lap and burying his face in my neck. The hot water stung a little at first but to my surprise the water didn't feel that much different than Mathias' body temperature which I was used to by then.

Since we had just taken a shower before I went to meet Eduard, there was no need of cleaning up so I simply leaned my head back against Mathias broad chest and relaxed in the soothing warmth of the water. It felt good to just let got for a while and not think about politics and intrigues for once.

"I like that blush on your face." Mathias whispered close to my ear while he began to stroke my sides with his hands. My face was indeed warm, but not from embarrassment like so many other times but from the heat that surrounded me. "You're more the cold type, you know." He continued, his lips nipping at my neck and sending light shivers down my spine. "You have a cold heart, and yet you are the most radiant creature I have ever laid eyes upon. But maybe that is because I have melted your heart a little…" I gasped as I felt his teeth on my earlobe, grazing ever so softly against the sensitive skin.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, voice showing slight hints of huskiness as the effect of Mathias' ministrations reached my lower body. Sometimes Mathias would show almost poetically prowess in his words and at times I found it hard to follow. His words stemmed from a time that was mostly ignored by human history for it was a dark age where the sky was aflame with terror and the art was tainted with blood, and even now, when the Empire had resurrected parts of those old times, people preferred to keep a veil on the ancient idea of art.

"Back in my days it was believed, that only a person with a hot disposition could tame a dragon since he would be able to withstand his heat. A cold person like you was believed to either quench the flame of his dragon or be consumed by it." Mathias hand played with my hair, entwining his fingers with one of the longer strands. "And you would have been considered a cold person; you are cool and level-headed and most importantly show rarely any emotions. I however…" His voice trailed of as he played absentmindedly with my hair.

"And you?" I asked, curious what he was about to say.

He chuckled, "If I were human I would be considered hot, I used to be much more volatile and would anger easily, but at the same time I was cheerful and carefree." I remembered him telling me about his past, about his wild days and I also had always had the feeling that this brooding moody personality wasn't his true self and his words now had confirmed my assumption.

"Do you miss it?" I couldn't help but ask. "The good old times you know?" I added after I got only a confused glance from Mathias. Mathias scoffed and lowered his hands to wrap them around my torso, before he answered my question: "Not really, the times back then weren't at all good for a dragon, we had much less freedom than nowadays and the death rate due to your human wars was also higher. And besides, there was no you there." With that he affectionately nuzzled the top of my head, pulling me closer to his chest.

"But now they have far more advanced machines and other weapons that are more dangerous than anything they had a thousand years ago, I have seen what those wired planes do to a dragon so you can't really say that times got easier." I argued, remembering the gruesome image of a dragon that had been torn apart by one of the Federation's fighter squadrons.

"That is true, but believe me when I say that there is nothing worse to be pitted against your own kin. And back then almost every dragon could trace his lineage back to one of the big ones so we all felt like kin. Humans didn't care about that though so they would force members of the same brood against each other when they happened to end up on different sides. " "But you told me dragons would fight all the time, even in freedom?" "Yes, for alpha position and sometimes because of territory struggles, but usually we never aim for the kill, there are only a few occasions when a dragon would kill another one out of free will. And that is the important thing here, free will. That is something that the dragons nowadays don't remember anymore, they are weak and used to the guiding hand of a human. I would not have a problem with killing them, there are nothing more than dirty inbreeded bastards."

I flinched at Mathias harsh words, I was never aware of how far his hate for his degraded kin went. But then again he had made it clear that he hated almost everything human and since it was the human hand that bred the current generation it was only natural that he would hate them.

"No, I don't miss the 'good old times' as you called them, but I do miss my life before that, when I was still free. But even then our time was already nearing its end; all of the true dragons were dying, their magic tainted by humans, and I am nothing more than a forgotten relic out of that time." Despite the hot water, despite Mathias' burning skin against my back, I felt cold at his heavy almost lifeless words.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, voice drowning in the plumes of steam that swirled around us. "Sorry for what? It wasn't you who brought the doom on my race." Mathias' voice was still bare of any emotion but his hand had resumed its caressing of my hair.

"But it was my ancestors who captured and enslaved you." I knew that there was nothing I could have changed about that but I still felt as if I needed to say it. "That might be true, but if that was what let me meet you it was worth it." The air caught in my throat and I didn't know what to say to that. "It was worth it," Mathias repeated, voice hoarse and suddenly filled with an almost desperate passion, "every spell that was driven through my flesh, every punishment I ever received, every year I was locked up under your home, it was all worth it, because I got to meet you, the person who finally gave my life a meaning." I blinked and to my surprise there was moisture in my eyes, that hadn't been there before. Was I crying?

"I was nothing," Mathias whispered and placed a tender yet firm kiss on the top of my head, "and now I am everything." My heart was beating faster and I felt incredibly whole and happy, yet all I could think of was a somewhat teasing reply: "Since when have you become so cheesy?" My eyes were still wet, but I was smiling as I was once more encircled in Mathias embrace and I heard his light chuckle. "Says the one who's crying."

Both of us laughed, and I felt truly at peace for the first time in a long while. "I love you." I breathed after our laughter had subsided, leaning my head back against Mathias' chest. "And I promise that as soon as this is over I will free you." Mathias entwined his fingers with mine and hummed something unintelligible, but I could clearly feel his approval.

"I'll show you the world." Mathias said after a short period of silence, and I sighed in complete bliss as he began massaging my head.

And after another longer silence, Mathias voice once more echoed through the wide empty chamber: "I love you too."

...


	11. Bath

**A/N: **Yay I'm back again. So here another more or less pointless chapter but the chapters after this one will be more plot relevant. I won't know when I'll update next, I'm visiting my father over Christmas break and I won't have much internet access there.

I haven't forgotten the SuFin Story, but like I said the main story has to progress to a certain point before I can post the other. And since someone asked I will probably write a story for Ludwig and Gilbert too but I need a bit of inspiration for that so it'll take a while too. But the good news is that I hopefully get to write a lot when I'm away. Now have fun my lovelys with this smutty chapter 3

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I relaxed a while in the hot water, mind drifting and Mathias gentle hands on my head. I should do this more often, it made things seem so much easier. But the water had another effect aside from the relaxation; I leaned back with a sigh, pressing into the body behind me whose heat was strong even against the steaming water.

I had never thought that sex one day would play such a big role in my life; I had always considered it as a necessity to spawn offspring, nothing more, until Mathias came along. His never ending hunger had bothered me at first, but I over the course of time I had not only grown to accept but also enjoy it and by now I really didn't want to live without it anymore. I wanted Mathias as much as he wanted me. And now matter how often we did it, it never got boring, there was always something new to discover a new kink to indulge in, and sometimes even a clash of contradicted emotions.

And sometimes in the depth of night I still wondered why I couldn't just give up my plan for revenge. Nothing would bring my parents back to live and deep down I knew that the fulfillment of my revenge would only leave me empty. But I couldn't stop now, not after all I had learned.

I let my hand slip underwater and traced a line along Mathias thigh, a ghostly touch almost unnoticeable in between the bubbling water. Strong arms were wrapped around me and damp hot breath tickled my neckline. "You'll never get enough, won't you?"

"From you? Never." I answered lightly while slowly venturing upwards with my hand, past prominent hipbones and over a defined stomach, twisting my arm slightly, but I didn't mind at all. It was rare for me to initiate the contact, usually Mathias' patience run out long before mine, but at the moment I felt that the atmosphere was bit too heavy for my liking and a rough round of lovemaking was exactly what was needed to disperse it. But I was sure that sooner or later Mathias would have come onto me either way so it really didn't matter that much.

Mathias chuckled lightly and lifted me up; he turned me around before he sat me back down on his lap so that I was now facing him. "I'm not the only one who seems eager." I teased, letting my hands roam over Mathias strong chest before me.

I had always kept my body in good shape, I watched what I ate and did a certain amount of training but I would never reach Mathias' level of muscularity. His muscles were strong and prominent, hard underneath my touch and still small enough to count as good looking instead of ridiculously over the top. And they gave off the feeling of safety and reliability, a permanent reminder of Mathias' dragon strength.

Mathias purred under my touch before he pulled me closer into a slow and passionate kiss, our lips were wet from the rising steam around us, filling our mouths with the salty taste of minerals. Mathias pressed a hand against my back to bring me even closer and I moaned into the kiss as my body was pressed against the heat of Mathias', the water swirling all around us and heating our blood up even more.

The longer we shared our kiss the more feverish it grew; maybe it was the steam in the air or the hot water, but our need suddenly was insatiable. I wanted to feel Mathias as soon as possible so I guided his hand down to my entrance; water was in no way a good replacement for lubricant but my arousal overwrote my logical thinking. Mathias, who could feel my need, lifted me up and onto the floor that rimmed the sides of the pool, getting my body out of the water so that he could at least prepare me as best as he could.

I held on to the tiled floor, stomach pressed against the warm floor that was damp with water, legs still in the water while Mathias positioned himself behind me and pressed a finger into me, his other hand massaging my back in the meantime. I moaned into the humid air, voice echoing from the wall of the wide hall as I was stretched more and more until Mathias deemed me ready and pressed into me.

It hurt at first, despite Mathias careful preparation and I had to grit my teeth to prevent a sharp cry of pain from escaping my lips, my nails dug painfully into the floor and I arched my back in an attempt to ease the stinging sensation. Mathias kept still and made soothing sounds until I had adjusted enough to his presence in me. I was panting hard, the edge of the pool poking into my hips and I allowed Mathias only too gladly to pry off my fingers from the floor and pull me up into his arms.

The change of position also changed the angle of penetration and I moaned as the tip of Mathias' erection brushed against my prostate, the pain dulled down to a light throbbing. Mathias took that as his cue and gently started to move, his arms supporting me, otherwise I would just have toppled over. Water was splashing around us; Mathias' thrusts shoved the water over the edge to pool on the stone floor as he slowly increased his speed.

Our breaths were erratic now, Mathias teeth were pressed into the skin of my neck and I had to grip on to his arms that were slung around me in order to keep my balance. Mathias nailed my prostate with every thrust, and soon my vision was blurry, the steam only adding to the effect.

The sound of flesh slapping against flesh echoed through the damp air, along with moans and panting breaths, and when Mathias let his hand roam over my body to my throbbing member, the cocktail of sounds only grew louder. I held onto Mathias other arm while he pumped my erection in a feverish rhythm, similar to the one he was slamming into me to and I accentuated each hit of my sweet spot and each stroke of his hand with a cry of pleasure or a deep ringing moan.

Mathias breath was hot against my neck, his teeth grazing over my skin, leaving marks that surely would stay for days. But I couldn't care less about that. "Mathias… hng…" I moaned, not sure myself what it was that I wanted to say. Mathias hand squeezed around my length in response and I could feel my release drawing close, I pressed back into Mathias and he increased his speed even more.

A sharp pain in my neck told me that Mathias had just broke skin with his teeth, the pain only increased my arousal and I let out a hoarse scream. Mathias groaned my name as he slammed into me with exuberant force and I was washed away by a wave of pleasure as I spilled my essence onto the floor and Mathias' hand, some of the sticky fluid landing in the water. I was still panting and trying to catch my breath while Mathias continued his thrusts until he too came with a muffled moan deep inside of me.

My legs were weak and I was only able to stand upright because of Mathias who still held me in his arms, placing kisses on my neck and back and whispering an almost inaudible 'I love you' in my ear. I couldn't answer right away, my breath was still heavy, but after a while when I had calmed down enough I turned around as far as possible and pressed a kiss on Mathias' lips. It was a short and chaste kiss, we both still were a little shaken from our recent high, but it was nonetheless sweet.

"I love you Mathias." I said, my voice was hoarse from all the moaning and screaming before, but I was used to that by now. "I'm afraid we'll have to clean you up again, you've gotten yourself dirty." Mathias teased in reply and helped me to turn around completely before he sat back down in the water, pulling me with him. I was still hot from our session of lovemaking and I the water was almost uncomfortable against my burning skin. But after two years in the company of a dragon who always burned hot, I had adapted to the constant high temperature.

"Well you made me dirty, so it should be your job to clean me up again." I pointed out with a bit of a lazy grin on my face. It was refreshing to fool around like that once in a while.

It was moments like these when I couldn't get rid of the thought that it simply wasn't worth it. All of my carefully planned schemes, all the effort I had poured into the matter, the friends I had neglected, the life I had not lived as I could, no as I _should _have, I had sacrificed all of that for the short lived satisfaction of ripping out the heart of the man who had killed my parents. But even though the doubts came more often to gnaw at me, to remind me that I didn't have to do this, I still couldn't stop. I had come too far to just give up.

As much as I enjoyed simple relaxing situations like this one, I would never stray from my path. I had sworn an oath to Mathias, and he had sworn an oath in return, we were bound together through this pact, and I would be damned if I wouldn't get it fulfilled.

And after that, we would be free. Then, there would be the time to enjoy our lives thoroughly, to laze around and have fun, if I still remembered how to do that by then.

Mathias chuckled and combed his fingers through my hair. "So? And what if I think otherwise? You had your own part in getting yourself dirty, so maybe you should just bend over and clean yourself." Mathias suggested with a certain dirty undertone that would send my blood rushing downwards if I hadn't just spent myself completely.

"Oh you would like that, wouldn't you? Having me stretching my ass up in the air so that you could get a nice look at it?" I leaned back against Mathias' chest, lifting my legs up a bit to examine them as if I were checking them for any flaws, but in truth I just wanted to tease Mathias, who always had a soft spot for displays of self indulgence.

"Maybe I would like that," Mathias drawled with a self-satisfied smirk, "But maybe I would like it even more when you touch yourself to clean your dirty little asshole that always takes me in so greedily." A wave of lust washed through my body, and my limp member even twitched a bit between my legs, but it would still need some time to fully recover. But then I would certainly be up for another round. Although we should probably move up to my rooms, I didn't want to block the bathhouse for too long, besides a bed was always more comfortable for these sort of things.

"And what would I gain from that?" I asked, running one hand along my outstretched leg and smiling to myself as I felt the light shiver that rippled through Mathias body. He seemed to enjoy the show. "You would get clean for one thing." Mathias tone was mocking, but I could clearly sense that there was more to come. He would never pass by an opportunity to get my blood rushing. "But," He brought his lips close to my ear so that I could feel his breath tickling against the sensitive skin of my earlobe, "I will also make sure that you won't be able to walk tomorrow, because I'll pound you into the mattress the whole night long…"

Yes, my body was certainly reacting to that; by the time we reached my chambers I would surely be ready again. Mathias, his virility fueled by a seemingly endless amount of energy was long since ready again, his erection poking against my backside, but he would always wait for me.

"Then we should move back to our rooms, don't you think?" I proposed my voice a bit husky and full of seductive promises. Mathias chuckled lightly in my ear. "Your wish is my command." I took a quick dive in the hot swirling water to clean up as best as possible before I was led out of the basin by Mathias who made sure that I didn't slip on the moist stone floor.

It was a bit of a mood breaker to change locations like that, but since water really was not the best replacement for lube and I just couldn't stand another round of rough lovemaking without proper preparation. And as nice as it was in the bathhouse, I couldn't take the heat for too long, even living with a dragon for two years was not enough to toughen me up like that.

We took our towels out of the shelf and rubbed ourselves dry, Mathias ignoring his erection as best as possible, knowing full well that he would get to take care of that later on. We then put on our clothes and collected everything we had brought down here.

The guards greeted us in well trained routine as we stepped out of the heavy doors and advanced down the corridor. We walked in silence, after years in the midst of scheming and intrigues we had learned that it was vest to keep private things inside our own rooms, because the walls of the palace floors tended to have ears.

I sighed inwardly, with the return to the upper palace levels, the sweet little illusion of a peaceful life in the warm air of the hot springs had evaporated and reality settled back in. Not that reality was that bad, it only reminded me on how much was left to do until I could my goal. But for tonight I was willing to forget all that and only focus on our carnal desires.

We reached my chambers after a few minutes' walk through the almost empty corridors, at this hour of the night most of the nobles and servants were asleep, only the guards and those who were unfortunate enough to have to run an errand for their master were up and about.

Once inside we discarded of our clothes once more, eager to get in the big spacey bad and continue with what we had started down in the bathhouse. This time with more care and tenderness, our lusty moans soon were filling the uncaring air of our home. We had a long day ahead of us so we took care not to overdo it, but that didn't keep us from making sure that both our need were very well satisfied.

Afterwards we lied together, limbs entangled and completely exhausted yet also deeply fulfilled with pleasure and joy. Mathias smiled a lazy smile as he dragged his finger over my hipbone, not to seduce but simply because he enjoyed the feel of my body under his touch. "Do you think they'll know?" He asked as his finger drew a circle on my stomach. "Hm?" I felt almost like a cat that was lying on the warm stove while outside a snowstorm was raging, lazy and content. "Those brothers, do you think they know who killed your parents?"

I took a moment to think about it. They had definitely known my parents, but as Eduard had pointed out not everyone was involved into the same things than the others, there was a good chance that they too didn't know who killed my parents. But even if they didn't know, maybe they could point me to someone that did. I shared my thoughts with Mathias who in turn took his time to ponder what I had said.

"What if they don't tell us?" Mathias lightly pushed at my side to get me to turn around so that he could lie behind me, while cuddling into me. I stifled a yawn, the night's activities catching up to me and demanding their price. "Then we'll make them talk." I thought about Eduard's threat and what would happen if I hurt the two brothers. Truth be told that didn't concern me that much, I had waited long enough to get my revenge; one petty Administrator wouldn't be able to stop me. Besides I trusted Mathias with taking care of any threat Eduard could possibly pose.

"Sounds like fun." Mathias commented and slid his arm around me to pull me closer to his chest, before he grabbed the blanket and covered us both with it. "I can see that." I said dryly, having gathered a crude idea of what Mathias considered fun over the course of the last two years.

Mathias nuzzled his face into my neck and hummed contently, a clear sign that he deemed the time right to go to sleep. I had to fight another yawn and decided that it was indeed time to sleep now. I would probably regret in the morning that I had gone to bed so late, but at least I could catch up on sleep on Ember's back. I made sure with one last glance that the alarm was set before I snuggled into Mathias' arms and closed my eyes.

"G'night." Mathias grumbled and I mumbled back a muffled reply. Hopefully we would be able to find tomorrow another piece of the puzzle that led to the murderer of my parents. With that last thought in mind I drifted into a deep dreamless slumber, a warm comforting body behind me keeping me warm.

...


	12. Departure

**A/N: **Yay I'm back, happy new year to everyone. Like I said in my other story I'm back from my hiatus and back on updating schedule. Enjoy reading.

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I was woken by the blaring of the alarm clock, a nasty and annoyingly loud sound. Each morning I thought that I should get a new clock, one that didn't blast my eardrums out, but each time I forgot it again. It almost had become something like a daily ritual. Mathias on the other hand didn't mind the earsplitting sound at all; he was sleeping next to me as if nothing had happened.

But since I the alarm didn't get the joy of waking him up it was up to me. With a motion that was routine by now I yanked the blanked from Mathias' body, exposing him to the cool room air. Unfortunately that was only the first step. Since Mathias' body heat was warm enough to replace a heater, he didn't really notice when the blanket was gone. It had taken me a long time to be able to sleep with a heat source next to me, but at least I could save on gas for heating.

There were different ways to wake Mathias up; the fastest and most efficient way was to tickle the underside of his feet, I had to be careful though not to get hit by the ensuing flailing of his legs. Alternative ways of waking him up were holding his nose, which only worked when he was sleeping with closed mouth, something he unfortunately seldom did and to empty a bucket of water over him. I would prefer the last one, but it always made a changing of sheets necessary and that was too much of hassle, despite the priceless reactions Mathias always showed when woken like this.

But today there was no time for a good morning show so I proceeded to tickle one of Mathias' feet that hung slightly over the edge of the bed. I jumped back instantly just in time to dodge the foot that was kicking madly into the air.

After a bit of pouting from Mathias' side who always complained that he wanted to be woken by a kiss, something I actually had tried once but didn't work, and a makeup kiss that like always ended up in groping, we both were more or less ready to start the day. Sometimes I wondered if I was the only one who had so much 'fun' with his dragon. But despite morning troubles there was nothing in the world for what I would ever give Mathias up. And I had to admit that I secretly enjoyed it to bully Mathias out of bed; there was just something with his reactions that was all worth it.

After putting on our clothes and eating a quick breakfast, I gathered some of the papers I had found in Alfred's and Matthew's house and put them in a messenger bag that I would take with me. I figured that it wouldn't hurt to bring them with me in case we needed something to convince the two brothers that there was no real need to try to hide anything from us.

We exited our rooms quickly, it was still early in the morning but we had a long flight before us and I didn't want to waste any more time. We made our way through the corridors and through the tunnel towards the dragon tower nearest to the palace.

The climb up to the starting platform was exerting as usual and by the time we reached the top I was panting heavily and my sides were stinging, Mathias on the other was just fine, his enhanced stamina allowed him to take the massive amount of steps with relative ease. He had offered a few times to carry me, but my pride wouldn't allow me to let me be carried like a child that couldn't walk on his own. At least I could relax once we were in the air, and the magnificent view from the back of a dragon always was worth the climb.

It was cold outside, even more since we were standing on top of a sixty meters high tower that was unprotected against the weather aside from a few spells that prevented the stone from crumbling. A strong wind was blowing, not ideal conditions for takeoff, but I had confidence in Mathias' skills so there was no need to be worried.

Mathias shed his clothes as they would only rip if he kept them on, as much as I didn't mind to see him naked, I still thought that the whole business of dressing and undressing was tiring, but even after a century of research the sorcerers still hadn't found a way to bring the clothes unscathed through the transformation process.

I stepped back a bit to give Mathias space to transform, a sight I would never grow tired of. The transformation into a dragon was almost like the reverse of the transformation from dragon to human. First the wings would sprout from Mathias' back, reaching far into the sky, seemingly pulling the dragon's body behind them, forcing it out of Mathias' human form until only a giant black beast remained.

Ember shook his wings a few times before he lazily stretched his large body and let out a sharp growl. In the beginning I had found his way to adjust to the transition intimidating, but in time I had learned that I had nothing to fear from him no matter how dangerous his behavior seemed.

I made sure the messenger bag was snug at my side before I climbed on Ember's back. The moment I had secured myself behind the thick neck shield, Ember leapt from the tower, falling a few meters before his wings caught the fall and we soared high into the air onwards to our destination, to the north where in a small village in the mountains the brothers were hiding.

The flight was rather uneventful, this time our route didn't take us close to the front so aside didn't encounter any trouble on the way. Most of the time I was taking a nap, leaning against one of the poles that stuck in Ember's back. It was not the most comfortable position, but I had grown used to rest like that. After all there was not much to do on the back of a dragon and Ember couldn't entertain me the whole time, flying was after all tiring for him too.

The lands of my family laid in the North, and we would pass through my territories, I was humoring the thought of visiting the estate on our way back, that would provide me with an alibi why I had left in the first place. I could just say I wanted to check on my home for a while, or just wanted to relax a bit far away from the court and its troubles.

Technically as a Dragon Lord I could go wherever and whenever I wanted, but my absence would be noticed and if I should neglect my duties it would invoke the removal of some of my privileges. But at the moment I was free of any duty, there was no battlefield where my presence was needed, and if something should turn up that would require my assistance there were ways of contacting me even though I was miles away from the capitals. I didn't carry a radio with me, they were too big and too impractical for a dragon ride but the Imperial sorcerers could issue a telepathic connection if necessary. It was an arduous process for the sorcerer, so it was only used in emergencies. But since at the moment five out of seven Dragon Lords, four if Arthur had already departed on his mission, resided at the capital, it was unlikely that I would be needed.

The war at the Eastern Front had been stagnating for a long time now, when ground was gained at one position, and almost equal amount was lost at another one. Recently the Empire had tried to use a baiting tactic where territory that was considered insignificant was left almost defenseless to the clutches if the Federation in order to throw all forces onto territory that still held some worth. Because of this, the number of battlefields had been reduced and with fewer battlefields there were also fewer Dragon Lords needed.

But with the Federation gaining ground faster than anticipated, which brought them close to more precious territory and a more than uneasy stalemate induced truce at the main eastern front, the situation was bound to escalate at one point. I only hoped I would gain some essential information before that point, because once war broke out again, I would be needed elsewhere.

With that in mind, I was even more eager to reach the village as soon as possible and hopefully get some valuable Intel. The flight however didn't take as long as estimated, a warm and steady air current allowed us to cut the flight time short by a good portion. And while were passing over the spur of the Northern mountains, out of nowhere a small village came in sight, it was nestled between two hilltops in a small valley, that could only be seen from above. Without Eduard's description I would never have found it.

There was no point anymore in trying to find a hidden landing spot, we were already too close and Ember's silhouette in the sky was almost impossible to miss. But we still had to circle for a while before we found a suitable landing spot and Ember eventually settled for a small hill that didn't have a too steep slope but the landing was still a bit rocky. Again I had to wait until Mathias had changed shape and dressed. A few Tamers let their dragon dress in only a loincloth or a dress-like coat, and I found myself sometimes humoring the thought of doing the same to Mathias, but in the end I'd much rather preferred it if Mathias wore what he wanted.

Since the hill was a good part away from the village we would have to walk again, even though it was more like a hike than a walk. If my mind hadn't been so absorbed in my mission I would have noticed the beauty of the scenery, we were still below the tree line so we passed by lush green pine trees and spruces, birds were singing in the chilly mountain air and we even crossed a shallow stream that flowed down the hillside.

Mathias on the other hand seemed to enjoy the landscape as it reminded him of his birthplace. He had been born farther up North though, but the similarities were there. He wanted nothing more than to spread his wings and fly, challenging the trade winds near the mountains and soaring through the air in a playful dance with other dragons that could turn serious at any moment. But there were no other dragons and even if there were, we had no time to follow his instincts.

Finally we reached the entrance to the valley where the village was located and we cautiously climbed down the path that was connecting the village with the outside world. It was not much more than a dirt path and I wondered how the inhabitants got their supplies, since cars couldn't reach here for obvious reasons. Upon closer inspection as we neared the first houses I noticed that the buildings looked more rustically and were mainly build out of wood, and there were large stacks of fire wood in front of most houses so I assumed that there were no gas lines yet.

The streets were almost empty, only a few people were up and about, minding their own business, but I noticed a few eyes behind curtained windows following our every step as we entered the village. There was a certain hint of secrecy in the air, almost palpable, and Mathias edged closer to me, whole body taut and ready to face any sort of danger that might arise. It was not directly threatening but I couldn't help but feel on edge since something just seemed about to happen, I just didn't know what.

And then almost without our notice the street was empty, the few people who had been out had disappeared. I stopped and looked around. Eduard had pointed us to the village but he hadn't told us an address and since this village was still inhabited we couldn't just go and enter random houses in hopes of finding what we were looking for. "I don't like this." Mathias growled, his usually blue eyes were lined with a soft red glow a dead sure sign that he was close to transforming. Whatever threat lied hidden between the innocent looking houses he would stand a higher chance in dragon form. Even if transforming in between buildings always posed the risk of injuries, but if I should be in danger Mathias was more than willing to take it.

"What do you want?" A voice from behind us asked, and I spun around, Mathias bared his teeth an open challenge to whoever had spoken. "Keep calm." I muttered under my breath, I would like to prevent an escalation for as long as possible, it would be difficult to cover up the annihilation of an entire mountain village no matter how reclusive, so it was best to keep it calm.

The man who had spoken stood a few feet away from us, and I wondered how he had come so close without anyone of us noticing, this was the second time in two days that someone had blindsided Mathias and it started to worry me. He was blond and wore glasses but his most striking feature was his overly cocky attitude that screamed out from his whole posture. He was grinning broader than I ever had Mathias seen grin and still managed to appear somewhat threatening.

"We're looking for someone." I said, careful not to give too much away, while searching the surroundings for any other surprisingly appearing people. Mathias, after deciding that the man was no imminent threat to my life, positioned himself so that he could have an eye on the stranger and watch the area behind me at the same time. I could feel his silent anger over the fact that he hadn't seen the stranger coming. This really shouldn't become a regular occurrence that would only result in high blood pressure.

"And who is that?" The man asked, he was still grinning and it started to slightly unnerve me. "That depends," I said, "on who's asking." I kept a sharp eye on his expression, waiting if he would give anything away but aside from that annoying grin his face was unreadable. "Well I'm Alfred F. Jones, and who are you?"

"Dammit Alfred, you just blew our cover." A second voice suddenly spoke up, and I nearly jumped in surprised shock as a man, almost identically looking to Alfred appeared beside him.

That was really not funny, where the hell were these guys hiding that I didn't notice their presence until they literally appeared in my face. This needed to stop or no amount of butter would be able to lower my blood pressure again.

"Sorry man, I keep forgetting that I'm supposed to be someone else." Alfred said sheepishly. My only solace was that apparently we had found one of the brothers. "It doesn't matter now; I just got a message from our spider that we should expect visitors who know who we are."

This got more confusing with every second. At least I could figure out that the spider probably meant Eduard, although the nickname was not really creative. And how did he even manage to contact them so far away from the capital? I doubted that they had radios up here, besides this high up in the mountains the signal would be more than bad. Maybe Eduard had a trustworthy sorcerer at his hands. This rebellion grew more and more suspicious with every passing minute.

"I'm sorry if my brother startled you, he has that effect on most people. I'm Matthew by the way." The other man said and smiled at us, it was a stark contrast to his brother, especially since they looked so similar.

"Okay, can anyone explain to me what the fuck is going on?" Mathias displeased voice cut into the moment of bewilderment the whole scene had caused for me. I was not sure if that all just had happened or if I still was dreaming on Ember's back on the flight, but I couldn't remember to have every dreamed something this absurd.

"You're right, there is some explaining in order, but I suppose we relocate inside, I don't think it would be wise to do the talking outside." Matthew suggested, still smiling that soft and somehow appeasing smile of his. "Is this a trap?" I asked dryly, at this point I wasn't sure of anything anymore so I could very well just ask flat out.

"We would never do such a cowardly thing; if we wanted to attack you we would do that right up front." Alfred exclaimed, it would have sounded like a threat hadn't Alfred's voice sound so excited. There was definitely something wrong with those two. But for the sake of my mission I would put up with it, this was our first major clue in two years after all.

Still not sure if this was a good idea, we followed the two brothers, I couldn't really get over the fact that we had actually found them just like this, through the village and to a house that looked like all the other houses, except that there was a freaking motorcycle parked in front of it. I didn't really want to know how they got that up here. And how they got their hands on it in the first place.

On the way there Matthew was quietly talking to his brother and as much as I strained my ears I couldn't make out his voice. Hopefully Mathias would have picked up more with his enhanced dragon senses.

"Make yourselves at home." With that we were invited in, and after another critical look to check our surroundings I stepped over the threshold and into a tiny hall that was almost cramped, especially with four people trying to get their shoes off in it. I handed over my army coat, I hadn't thought of taking it off and leave it behind this time, but it was too late to fret over that now.

We were led into the living room, eying the interior suspiciously, but this looked like an ordinary house with ordinary furniture and décor like so many else I had seen.

I grew more and more curious about who exactly these brothers were and what their business was. And what they knew about my parent's death.

And of course I wanted to know what I should make out of this rather weird reception.

...


	13. Disclosure

**A/N:** This is as you might have noticed a weekly update. But when I updated after my hiatus I forgot that once university starts again Tuesday will be a bitch day for me to update so I simply moved the date to Wednesday again. I just thought I'd let you know. ;)

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Since standing around like ordered and not delivered felt pretty stupid I sat down on one of the couches that stood around a small coffee table that almost collapsed under the amount of stuff that had been dumped on it. There were many books and magazines, lose paper strewn in between, useless knickknacks taking up the last free space and I even spied a fork that was lost under a pile of what appeared to be a collapsed book pyramid.

Charming.

Mathias sat down beside me, arm lazily draped on the backrest, but I knew that his relaxed demeanor was only façade, he was ready to strike any moment if the situation should get out of control. He usually would have kept standing behind me, but since the circumstances were different from when we were at the palace. And it would be an advantage if we didn't give away immediately who the dragon was, even though I doubted that anyone would mistake me for one.

Alfred plopped down on the couch across from ours and placed his feet in the middle of the chaos on the coffee table, pushing aside most of its occupants, causing most of it to fall down on the floor. There went the fork, lost for eternity in the lawless valleys of carpetville.

"Alfred, behave yourself, we have guests." Matthew chided as he came from what I assumed to be the kitchen, carrying a plate with sweets and snacks. At least they were hospitable. With a groan Alfred set his feet down and grabbed for one of the sweets on Matthew's plate, earning a slap to his fingers from his annoyed brother.

This felt more and more like a bad theater play, and I started to wonder if maybe we got things mixed up and these two didn't have anything to do with 'New Face', because from what I've seen so far they seemed entirely incapable of carrying out a plan of such complexity.

But maybe that was just a disguise. No matter what, I'd better be careful.

After everyone had settled down and Matthew had saved his plate from Alfred's clutches, I decided that it was time for some answers. "So what exactly is this all about?" I asked and took a cookie from the plate, ignoring Alfred's hungry gaze as I nibbled on it. For all I knew it could have been poisoned but I figured that if they would have wanted to kill us, there were easier ways, especially since we were high up in the mountains where no one, except Eduard who was in on the conspiracy, would expect us. And Mathias would have warned me if he had smelled poison.

I would have preferred butter biscuits though.

"Ah well, I actually wanted to ask you the same question." Matthew said, almost timidly, smiling at us amiably. "Hey, we don't even know your names; it is impolite not to introduce yourselves." Alfred suddenly cut in, using the moment of shock to steal a snack from his brother. "Right, I would like to know your names too." Matthew added, but before I could say anything I was hindered yet again by the noisy brother: "We're not going to tell you anything unless you tell us your names!"

"Fine," I gave in, there was no need in hiding our identity anyway, with a bit of research they would easily be able to find out who we were, a black dragon like Mathias was, was practically unique." "I am Lukas Bondevik and this is Mathias." With that it was also clear who of us was the dragon.

"Who of you is the dragon?" Alfred almost bounced up and down on his seat and his eyes were sparkling with unfiltered enthusiasm. "That was the coolest dragon I have ever seen! We rarely get to see dragons up here and never a black one." I wondered just how it pertained to a dragon to be called 'cool', but then again Alfred had clearly missed the obvious fact that I was the Lord; hence Mathias had to be the dragon so there was not that much to be expected from him.

Wait, did that mean that they saw dragons here occasionally? That was… interesting. As far as I knew there were no military issued dragons sent so far up north and wild dragons would keep the hell away from anywhere near humans.

"Moving on. Nice to meet you two." Matthew interrupted my train of thoughts by greeting me with an outstretched hand. It seemed he was used to ignore his brother's antics, and with a feeling that this couldn't get any more ridiculous I accepted the handshake.

Mathias simply ignored the gesture and continued instead with staring at Alfred in slight disgust. On top of having to endure the human's presence, one of them seemed to be overly eager to show his adoration for his existence. I couldn't blame Mathias for being pissed, after centuries of enslavement he was greeted with childish joy over his exceptional coloring, something he used to hold pride in but now it was nothing more than a prestigious jewel for the rich to flaunt around.

I suddenly remembered how Ludwig's father used to brag about the unique color of their dragon, using the physique and skin tone of Gilbert as a status symbol, his wife almost as bad as him. They used to parade Prism around to show off the family's flawless breeding skills. That only stopped when Ludwig took over, but still people envied the Beilschmidt family their extraordinaire exemplar. Black wasn't that rare of a color, but thanks to the red patterns on his scales, and of course because of his size and age, Mathias was pretty famous around the capital, and I had been asked more than once if I would like to contribute Mathias' sperm for breeding, offers I had politely declined each time.

And Alfred had just poured salt on the wound.

But as much as I felt with Mathias, now was not the right moment to deal with it.

"So what did your spider tell you about us?" It couldn't hurt to get some insight in what Eduard had disclosed about my mission, I just hoped that he didn't give away too much. Matthew just shrugged, "not much, only that you're coming and that we should help you." Those were good news for a change.

"So you don't know why we're here?" I leaned back on the couch, taking another cookie from the plate and breaking it in half to share it with Mathias, a silent gesture of comfort, after all I could do at least this much.

"No, not really. But I have my suspicions." Matthew was still smiling, but there was a nervous edge to it now, even Alfred had perked up and was now watching us with silent intent. "You're here because of 'New Face' aren't you?" I was a bit surprised about his bluntness, but if he who knew how long we would have beaten around the bush if Matthew hadn't spoken up like that. "Not exactly, but close." I noticed how Matthew started to fidget nervously in his seat; it seemed he had expected me to affirm his suspicion completely and not only halfway.

"It has to do with it, yes, but I'm mainly interested in what you know about my parent's death." For a moment Matthew looked confused, but then realization formed on his face as he connected the dots in his head. I almost couldn't stand the look of pity that appeared on his face then.

"Ah, I should have noticed when I heard your name, you're _their _son." "What? He is Aleksander's son? I didn't know he had children." Even Alfred had caught on to what was going on and he watched now with a look of confusion but also that was very close to sympathy." Mathias, sensing my unrest, leaned forward to shield me from the compassionate onslaught. Back when my parents had died everyone had treated me like this, everyone had this look of pity on them and tried so hard not to upset me because I was so young and fragile and _weak_.

I hated it.

"I'm so-" "Don't" I cut in before Matthew could finish his condolences, I had heard those words far too often to find any more meaning in them. At this point I couldn't even appreciate the gesture anymore. "Just tell me what you know about their deaths."

Matthew seemed a bit surprised about my words but after he exchanged a glance with his brothers he settled down again and began speaking: "They were killed to serve as a warning for the rest of us." Matthew started and I had to stop myself from interrupting him out of impatience. I knew that much already, I was more interested in who killed them not why.

"I don't know how much you know about the 'New Face' plan but your parents were big supporters of the whole plan. They were acting as mediators between our men at the palace and capital and our various bases strewn throughout the land. We even have a few men beyond the borders who will ensure that once the Emperor is overthrown our international relations will improve. Your parents relayed messages between the various parties involved and also had a leading when it came to making decisions. Well Aleks had, your mother always had reservations against a rebellion but he supported her husband nonetheless."

I had listened with interest the whole time but when I heard those words about my mother my curiosity peaked. I suddenly remembered an argument between my parents a few days before their deaths, I didn't know what it was about but it had seemed that my mother had been unhappy with something and my father had tried to reassure her that there was no need to worry. From what I remembered my mother had appeared to be afraid of something and now I realized that she most likely had suspected something to happen. I recalled her saying that she wanted to stop with whatever they had been doing because it was not worth jeopardizing our family for. And I remembered almost vibrantly clear now how my father had looked at her and stated in his calm and serious voice how this was worth even more than just our family.

How could I have forgotten something important like this? But after they died I had been so stricken with grief that it had completely slipped my mind and only resurfaced now, triggered by Matthews's words. So my father had been ready to sacrifice his family for a greater cause while my mother would have liked to keep us safe. I had always imagined them to be unified in their decisions but it seemed as if one of them had dragged the other down with him.

"I don't know how they found out but the Emperor caught wind of their doing and decided to let them be executed. Only that he couldn't charge them openly that would have caused an uprising among the noble families so they had them assassinated. He wasn't aware of how deep this conspiracy truly roots so he only knew of their involvement. I don't know why he didn't try to get anything out of them but like this he only cut of the flower's head, but the stem remains intact."

"What you're saying is that the Emperor is responsible for their deaths?" I asked, hands clenching into the fabric of the couch. I had suspected that their involvement in the 'New Face' plan had something to do with their deaths; from the moment on I had found the hidden documents. And true the Emperor was the first one who came to my mind when I thought about who would be opposed to that plan, but I could never imagine that the Emperor would go as far as to kill my parents. They had only been on friendly terms. I felt a sick twisting in my stomach as I remembered the mourning ceremony that was held for them and how he had come to me to give me his condolences. I felt bile in my throat as his words resonated through my mind 'I truly regret your loss, you parents were great people.'

As incompetent, paranoid and corrupt as he was, the Emperor was surrounded by a group of subordinates who would do everything to defend their power base. It made total sense that they would dispose of everyone who could be a threat to the Emperor, but I had always thought that whoever it was had acted on their own accord. But then again that maybe was just naïve on my part. The Emperor couldn't have stayed in his position for so long if he hadn't surrounded himself with so many trustworthy and overall dangerous people. Not in times like these, when a war was threatening to ruin the Empire financially. I just had never connected the dots.

"I'm afraid that is true." Matthew answered with sincerity. I had always imagined that the culprit would be a courtier or a noble Lord, someone I could kill with comparable ease and make it look like an accident, or maybe not, depending on how I was going to kill him. But I couldn't just go and kill the ruler of this nation, not that I had qualms; it was simply extremely difficult for a single person even with a dragon to get close enough for a killing strike. At least if I planned to stay alive, which I definitely did.

"He didn't do it himself of course, he ordered someone, but he is nevertheless responsible for your parent's death." Matthew finished with a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. There was one single hair that withstood gravity and poked upwards in a curl like shape. It was almost like the curl that seemed to drift off my head. It was weird how I suddenly noted similarities.

Mathias had been silent throughout the exchange but he wasn't the least bit happy about the revelations. In his opinion the Emperor was the cause of all evil and he would have ripped his heart out more than gladly, but even he knew how dangerous our quest suddenly had become. But neither of us would back off, we had come too far to stop now.

"You want to kill him, don't you?" Alfred suddenly asked; his eyes uncharacteristically serious behind the rim of his glasses. "To get revenge?" I looked at him, taking in the way he leaned forward, whole body tense as if he waited on something, as if my next words would be the trigger for something. "Yes." I stated flatly, there was no need in denying it at this point.

Alfred's lips curled up into a grin and he relaxes again, snatching a cookie from the plate and stuffing the whole thing in his mouth. "Well, we can help you with that." For a moment I was perplexed, I couldn't quite follow his thoughts but then the realization dawned on me. In a way it was always funny how things fell into place, just like that.

"You don't just want to overthrow him, don't you?" Mathias spoke up for the first time throughout the whole conversation. "We have come to the decision that it would be too risky to let him stay alive, he has many supporters and he has a claim to the throne. I doubt we could exile him far enough to be safe from him. We plan to clean the whole court of everyone… _undesirably._" The way Matthew drew out the last word made clear that they wouldn't have qualms about killing everyone who was in their way.

And with that I realized why Eduard had sent us here so readily and why he made sure that we would be greeted with open arms. He had planned this all along. I had to admit I had underestimated him. "And you need our help." I concluded with a sense of resignation. Eduard truly had played us well. "I wouldn't say we _need _your help, but I figure that since our spider sent you here he saw some value in you. And I have to say I must agree, you really could be of some help." Matthew smiled at us, even Alfred seemed as if he was eager to hear our reply.

"I don't like this." Mathias stated bluntly, he didn't like being played like this and the way things were progressing didn't go well with him at all. We always had worked on our own, kept everyone away as far as possible and even though we would have a much bigger chance to get our revenge when we worked together with these people, that didn't mean that I liked it one bit.

"I know you have some troubles with working with us, but just think about it. We don't seem like it but we are well organized, we have many supporters and the only thing that is lacking is a bit of battle strength in the capital." Matthew leaned forward to get a better look at me. We have people there but not as much as we want, all you need to do is stay there on standby and wait for our signal to strike. It won't be long now; we are in the final phase of our planning."

I thought about it, it was true what he said, it would be easier for us if we cooperated, and otherwise we would most likely end up getting in each other's way. But I wasn't sure if I would like it for someone else to be in charge over my decisions. I wanted to kill the murderer of my parents on my own terms. In the end the choice was easy though, it would be impossible for Mathias and me to get to the Emperor before the 'New Face' plan was set in motion so his kill would be snatched right out of our hands.

"I'll help you, under one condition." I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest and exchanging a glance of understanding with Mathias. "I get to kill the Emperor and no one will interfere with how I chose to deliver the killing blow." Matthew didn't seem too happy about my conditions but at this point he should have known what I would want in exchange for my help. "Fine," he agreed eventually.

"I'll let you in on the details, at least as much as they concern you. But before I do that it might be time for you to meet Ivan."

...


	14. Plan

**A/N:** I haven't forgotten the two oneshots I promised but you will have to be patient a while longer. The SuFin is almost finished but the main story still hasn't progressed far enough to be ready for that. And I still need inspiration for the germancest, if you want to prompt me on that, feel free ;D

* * *

„Who is Ivan?" I asked, not sure if I should like this development. But I supposed that I had to meet other members of the rebellion sooner or later. "That's a bit hard to explain, but you could say he is the local leader of sorts."

"Local leader?" I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. For a group that claimed to be well organized they had a tremendous amount of chaos in their administration. But maybe that was just to confuse outsiders.

"Yes, he has picked out this village as a hideout and he facilitates the contact with the non-human parties that participate in this plan." Mathias groaned and I could only understand him too well. There was not much that 'non-human parties' could refer to. I pinched the bridge of my noise to contain my irritation. "If you're working with dragon tamers just say so, we're not completely oblivious." I let out an annoyed sigh.

"Well the problem is, we're not exactly working with tamers…" Matthew trailed off and cast a help seeking glance to his brother. "They're wild dragons." That was not the help Matthew had been looking for, but Alfred just shrugged. This was indeed a surprise. But then again, maybe not so much. We were in the North after all, close to the areas where the last wild and untamed dragons where hiding and I could imagine that they would profit quite a bit from this plan. What I remembered from the evidence I had found the plan did involve not only an overthrow of power but also intended to put an end to the war. No war meant no need for dragons, which in turn meant that those who still had their freedom could live in peace.

Mathias had perked up at Matthew's last words, he didn't think too high of the wild dragons of these days, they were far inferior to the dragons that roamed the skies back when he was still free, but they were at least untamed and not yet tainted by a human's hand. I knew that he had wanted to meet some for a long time now. Even if only to see if they could maybe just a little meet up to his standards.

But there was something else that piqued my interest. Hadn't Arthur been sent out to investigate dragon sightings in the North? And most likely they were the exact same dragons Matthew had spoken of? If that was the case they were in serious danger.

We stepped outside and Alfred pulled out a whistle, blowing into it one time without causing a sound. I was a bit confused until I noticed that Mathias had flinched the moment Alfred blew the whistle and I realized that the frequency must have been outside of the human hearing threshold. Almost like a dog whistle.

Mathias scanned the sky, a somewhat worried expression on his features as he edged closer to me, ready to guard me against whatever it was that Alfred had summoned. Soon the rustling of wings against the strong current of wind was heard and a shadow crossed over us. He was big, not as big as Ember maybe but he definitely came close. He was sturdier than Ember, his body had more mass and his wingspan was shorter as was his tail and neck, but he made up for it with massive muscles that showed under his gleaming silvery scaled skin. Sunlight reflected of his scales as he flew a corkscrew like maneuver, spiraling through the air above us to attempt a landing. But the most notable thing maybe was the absence of spells on his body. He was completely unbound.

"Is he insane?" Mathias yelled and pulled me back in the shadow of the house and I realized with shock that the constricted space between the buildings was not nearly enough to allow a safe landing. "Watch and Learn." Alfred gave us a thumbs up, not seeming concerned at all but despite his and Matthew's lack of worry I couldn't help but to duck my head under Mathias' body that was poised protectively in front of me.

I glanced past Mathias' frame and watched in awe as the dragon dived down, catching his fall in the last second before he hit the roofs of the surrounding houses, and hanging almost vertically in the air for a split second, before a flash of light erupted around him, followed by a the sound of something heavy colliding with the ground. I shielded my eyes against the light and when I opened them again the dragon was gone and in his stead a man crouched down on the floor, a man with pale blonde hair and the same sturdy built that the dragon had.

A dragon had just transformed in midflight right in front of us. I never knew that this was even possible, I never even had considered it, and from the looks of it Mathias hadn't either.

"Hello Ivan." Matthew greeted and smiled softly, but I noticed that he blushed a bit at the sight of Ivan's naked body. Alfred on the other hand had no such problem; he stepped forward and slapped Ivan a hand on his shoulder as the other stood up from his landing position. "Welcome back buddy."

Alfred led Ivan over to us; Matthew in the meantime vanished into the house to get some clothes. Ivan didn't seem to mind that he was naked, despite the somewhat chilly temperature. After having spent so much time around dragons and especially Mathias I was strangely used to the sight of naked men so I did not really care about the sight. Mathias who would never have cared for putting on clothes in the first place if it weren't for the human's moral demands, was more concerned with my safety than Ivan's dangling cock.

"This is Ivan." Alfred introduced his companion; still a hand on his shoulder and Ivan greeted us with a smile that could almost be considered eerie. Alfred then proceeded to introduce us: "This is Lukas Bondevik, he's a Lord or something and that is his dragon Mathias." "We'll be friends from now on, yes?" He said and I grazed him with a cold look, not sure what I should make of his approach. It was quite unusual to proclaim friendship at first meeting, especially in such a peculiar situation like this. What Tino would say if he knew that I made friends with a naked man in the middle of a mountain village?

No matter how often I took the resolve to keep Tino out of my life I never seemed able to forget him, thoughts of him would always pop up out of nowhere and I would wonder what he was doing or what he would think if he saw me. And now Ivan's strange remark had brought him back again, my friend who stuck to me even though I had done my best to push him away. I almost felt something like nostalgia as I remembered the fun we had back when things still were okay between us. Maybe I should talk to him when we returned.

"Would you please come in now?" Matthew called from the door, a stack of clothes in hand, seeming a bit impatient. After we all had returned inside and Ivan had put on some clothes we all sat down again in the living room, eying each other with various stages of suspicion. Ivan was sitting in the single armchair that previously had gone unoccupied, his hands folded in front of his stomach and a light smile on his lips.

I still couldn't quite get over the fact that he had transformed in midair and I could feel Mathias burning behind me with questions about just how he did that. But he restrained himself, putting on an air of superiority as they silently fought out their battle for alpha dominance or whatever.

Alfred had snatched up the plate and was snacking on what was remaining of the food, completely oblivious to the tension around him. Or maybe not, because when the atmosphere got almost unbearable thick with silence he set down the plate and clapped his hands. "No need to be so , gloomy, it's time to explain our plan, isn't it?" Both Ivan and Mathias visibly shifted at his words, leaning back in their respective seats and tuning their menacing aura down. If they finally had decided on a winner or if Alfred's words just got to them, but as long as I could breathe easily again I wouldn't complain.

"Yes, right." Matthew who had been put off by the struggle for dominance pushed his glasses back up his nose and cleared his throat. "You don't have to know every gory detail, but here are the basics. In two weeks an ambassador from the Golden Archipelago will arrive to negotiate trading contracts between our nations. But his true objective is to observe the overturn of power. You see we have contacts around the world and bargained an immediate ceasefire with the Federation once the Emperor is dead. Everyone wishes for peace by now, only the Emperor and his underlings can't see the damage they're doing. But we have to make the first step.

A grand banquet is planned on the evening after the ambassador arrived; we plan to take action then. Our men will be smuggled into the city beforehand in addition to those already there. Once the Emperor and his underlings are disposed of, Eduard will see that the power is transferred to a new government consisting of a council of trusted people from all social classes. Every order in effect concerning the army will be revoked and we will convert the Empire into a democracy." Matthew sounded proud as he told us of their plan, his eyes were gleaming and I could see how deeply he believed what they were doing was right.

Yet I couldn't help but feel that their plan was a bit naïve. They were like children who planned on attacking their rival's sandcastle, not realizing how dire the consequences could be and blindly hoping that everything just went as planned.

"What about the noble families?" I asked; still not fully convinced that this would work out as well as they imagined. "Do you really think they will allow you to take away their power just like that? As long as the Emperor rules they can do as they please so naturally they will fight to protect that privilege."

"Well about that it just so happens that one of the head families not only supports our cause but also took major part in initiating all of this. Another one is at least sympathizing with us and with your help we could bring in the Väinämöinens too. I suppose the only one who could pose a serious threat is Lord Beilschmidt, I know for a fact that he's not too content with the situation but he's a soldier at heart and won't disobey orders."

But then you won't have a problem with him." Mathias suddenly cut in, "You said yourself you would change the order of the Empire so he has no choice but to follow the new one." "I doubt it will be that easy." Ivan said, taking part in the conversation for the first time. "He will feel obliged to revenge his Emperor's death, and even before that, if the slightest hint of what we're about to do will reach him he will do everything in his power to stop us. And chance is that at least part of our plan will be revealed, they already know that something is going on and with the amount of activity that will be needed they definitely grow suspicious."

"This is where you come in." Matthew continued after Ivan had resumed his silent and observing position. "You have to keep Lord Beilschmidt and his dragon occupied and if possible everyone else who threatens to become involved. Don't worry we'll keep the Emperor warm for you so that you get your revenge." It was bit unnerving to hear Matthew talk like that, they were about to commit regicide and kill a lot of people and he still managed to make somewhat casual jokes about it. But maybe that was just coping. Alfred on the other hand seemed to cope with food.

"Why us?" Mathias demanded and threw a glance at the ever smiling Ivan. "Why can't he do it? Or of your noble allies, they've got dragons haven't they? Who are they anyway?" Good point. I had seen Ludwig and Prism in battle they were pretty skilled, Mathias could handle them sure but it would be dangerous. And as much as I wanted to rip out the Emperor's heart and everyone else' who had been involved with my parent's death I didn't want to kill Ludwig or anyone else for that matter. I always thought I was ruthless but now for the first time I felt that there were things I was not ready to do. I had always respected Ludwig in a way.

"Ivan will be needed elsewhere and, the same goes for Arthur." Alfred supplied, not caring that he just blew their allies cover. But since neither Ivan nor Matthew seemed concerned I figured that it was okay for us to know. Come to think of it they had even revealed the spider's identity, albeit that hadn't been that much of a secret anyway.

"Your ally on the side of the Dragon Lords is Arthur?" I confirmed and when Matthew nodded I continued: "He was sent on a mission to investigate the sightings of dragons in the North. That fits a little too well don't you think so?" It was Alfred who answered this time and from the looks of it he was rather proud of what he was saying. "That was totally planned dude. We let Ivan and his friends fly around to get some attention so that Arthur would get send here. We need to talk to him about a few things and like this it won't be suspicious."

Not suspicious? Nice joke, haha.

"We had some problems recently with contacting our men in the capital so we had to think of this ruse." Matthew explained with a shrug. "It is not ideal and that you came here at the same time makes things more complicated but then again you are known to inconsistent behavior, aren't you?" I ignored the last comment and instead asked: "Is he here now?" Matthew shook his head. "No he is farther North where the sightings took place to 'investigate' and meet with another friend, he will stop here on his way back I presume."

"You have really thought this plan out, don't you?"

"Of course we have!" Alfred grinned at me, I never thought that this was possible, but he managed to grin even wider than Mathias on his rare occasions of being in an exceptional good mood. "We have put a lot of thought into it and took our time to smooth out every detail. We can't afford something to go wrong after all." Matthew elaborated, seemingly proud on their work. But still I couldn't help to feel a tinge of bitterness at all this.

"That didn't help my parents, did it?" Matthew's face fell at my words and he looked away. "We had a lot of setbacks before we managed to get where we are now. Believe me, we have lost more than only your parents, but each death will be remembered, they won't have died in vain." 'Only' my parents, huh? Was that all; were they only a footnote in a childish attempt to play rebellion?

"They are dead, why would they care about that?" I asked, I was temporarily overwhelmed by my negativity and even if it was maybe unfair I felt like blaming them. Matthew who had opened his mouth to say something shut it again at my question, looking sad and lost. Alfred watched our exchange with weary eyes but stayed silent otherwise.

"Are you the right person to ask that question?" Ivan asked; his violet eyes trained on me. "Your quest for revenge won't bring your parents back so why bother?" I had asked myself that question countless times before but still the answer was always the same, and almost tragically simple. "I'm not doing it for them. I'm doing it for me." I had realized that a long time ago of course, no matter what I did would revive my parents. But when they died they murderers had taken something away from me, my happiness and partly even my future. I wasn't supposed to inherit the family titles so early; I was supposed to live my life, to experience and to learn and most of all live with the innocence that only came with a life guarded by parents.

All that had been shattered when I found my parents, lying in their own blood, and I vowed to myself that I would kill the person who had torn apart my peaceful life. It was purely selfish.

Matthew looked at me with an expression that could have been shock. He had probably assumed that I wanted to get revenge for my parents and he seemed genuinely distressed by the fact that he misread me. Ivan on the other hand carried a knowing look on his features and leaned back in his chair. "Then there is no problem, yes? We want to change things for us and not your parents. They died but they knew what they were getting into. _Both _of them did." He was right, of course he was. My parents had always been the prudent type and they wouldn't have gotten into it if they didn't think it was worth it. Even my mother who had started to doubt at some point knew what she was getting into. Maybe she underestimated the risk, but it was still her decision. My father would never have forced her to anything.

I nodded once to signal that I accepted his argument and Ivan widened his smile in return. Even if their plan was naïve and risky; it was still the best that we had. And it was definitely my best chance to come close to the Empire. So we better made sure that everything went well and without disturbance. Maybe I was just envious that they had come farther with their planning than I could ever dream of, but then again they were much more than only me and my dragon.

"Fine, I'll agree to your plan. Just don't expect me to put up a fight with the whole imperial army or something. We can handle Ludwig but that's about it." I was pretty sure that Mathias could handle a bit more than that but I didn't want to overdo it, after all I couldn't risk getting him killed.

"What about the sorcerers? Will they be a threat?" The sorcerers held no allegiance to the Empire, all they were interested in was money and more importantly the knowledge they could extract from handling the dragons, the remains of the old magic that was still present in some of them, even though the yield was meager. But they still could pose a threat.

"Don't worry, most sorcerers have revoked their contracts with the Empire since there hadn't been any sightings of wild dragons for almost two years now and they prefer to be on their own. Only a few remain to oversee the breeding but those are the weak ones, those who wouldn't stand a chance against the others so they stick to the protection the Emperor can offer." Matthew explained and I nodded.

"Oh and don't even think of dragging Tino into all of this." I added after a moment of thought. It was bad enough that Tino joined the army because of me; I definitely didn't want him to be part of even more danger. Maybe I should really talk to him when we returned; I suddenly didn't feel so averse to the thought of mending our relationship anymore. He had been a precious friend after all.

"It could be already too late for that." Matthew smiled sheepishly and fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "What do you mean?" I asked with a heavy frown. "Eduard contacted him the moment you left the capital. I think it was his plan all along to get you here and once you were involved it would only be a matter of time that Tino followed. We need as much support as we need and the more head families are on our side the better. There will be less bloodshed that way."

"Oh you got to be kidding me."

...


	15. Doubt

„You got to be kidding me. You brought Tino into this? What the hell where you thinking, he is the last person that should get involved in this mess." I was a bit surprised about my own strong reaction to the matter but the thought of Tino getting into danger partly because of me just didn't sit well with me. If it weren't for me he wouldn't have joined the army and would probably sit at home right now and be completely oblivious to the betrayal going on around him.

"I think you should give him a little more credit." Ivan suddenly said and looked at me with an unreadable expression. "He is more capable of handling himself than you think and it's not like we're forcing him to do anything. He is free to turn our offer down." "And what if he indeed turns you down?" Mathias inquired, similar annoyed by the turn of events than I was.

"Then we'll have to remove him temporarily to prevent him getting in the way, but' I'm sure that he will see the benefits that are in there for him." With every word Ivan spoke my uneasiness grew, maybe he just expressed himself wrong but somehow I found that his words were more threatening than reassuring. In more than one way. "What do you mean, remove him?" I asked, putting a threatening undertone in my voice, I would not allow Tino to get hurt.

"Ivan could you please and try not to be so confusing as to what you mean?" Matthew interjected and threw the other a stern look. Ivan returned his gaze with a smile and then turned back to me. "I'm sorry, I meant no offense; I only happen to sometimes choose the wrong words." I still wasn't sure if I could trust Ivan or if I even wanted to but Mathias seemed to relax a bit and that meant that he was at least not dangerous.

"How can you be so sure that Tino will comply? Or that he will be of any use?" I asked. Not that I thought Tino incompetent, not at all, I knew from experience that he could be quite cunning and tenacious, but I also knew that it needed a lot to draw that side from him. Otherwise he was rather the peace loving type and I wasn't sure if he would be ready to participate in murder so easily. He wasn't fond of the war, but it was high treason to conspire against the Empire, and we didn't just plan to exile him and his men.

"I have heard quite a lot of stories about the young Lord Väinämöinen and I'm quite sure he not only can handle himself but he will be eager to help us too." Ivan explained and resumed his self satisfied smile. I wasn't too convinced though. Ivan seemed to see things a bit too easy. "Of course we can't risk Lord Väinämöinen to spread our secret, but from what I've heard I'm sure that he will at least agree to stay silent. And you are in the picture too, don't forget that." Matthew added and smiled at me with a reassurance and warmth that Ivan's smile lacked a bit.

"He's right." Alfred had emptied the plate and was now paying full attention again to the conversation. "I've met this Tino guy once when I was undercover in the capital and he seemed to me the kind of guy who would do anything for his friends. And you two are friends, aren't you?" Maybe I would have dwelled more on Alfred's claim to have been investigating in the capital, information that had been left out until now and that I found quite valuable, but I was more concerned with what else Alfred had said.

We had been friends before all this, but as of recently I had done nothing to keep that friendship going and after out last conversation I wasn't so sure if Tino still considered us friends. I had decided to mend the relationship once I got back but until then I couldn't really say what our status was. I came to regret more and more that I had let things develop so far, I should have realized how much Tino meant to me. Hopefully it wasn't too late.

"I hope you are right." I said with a sigh. I knew it was dangerous and I didn't want Tino to get in harm's way but secretly I was enjoying the thought of being teamed up with Tino, it had been far too long. And maybe it was time for Mathias to get some dragon friends. Tino had suggested something like that in the beginning but both I and Mathias had rejected the idea of a friendship between Berwald and Mathias.

"I hate to cut this meeting short but I think it is best if you two return to the capital now. I figure your absence else will be noted. And at this point we should prevent to draw any sort of attention to our plan." Matthew smiled apologetically, but got up nonetheless. He was right though, it wouldn't be good if we drew any attention and the longer we were away the more likely that would be. Besides I wanted to talk to Tino as soon as possible. There was still time before the plan was set in motion but still I should better prepare.

"I will give you a list with all the people involved on the Emperor's side so that you can watch out for them. But remember your main objective is Ludwig and Prism. Maybe we will have to change plans though and let Ivan handle them but we'll let you know in any case." Matthew said as we all got up but I shook my head. "No, it was a great risk already to leave those documents in your old house that was what led me to you in the first place, you should definitely not leave any more evidence around. Mathias will destroy the files I found and you should do the same to every kind of evidence." I couldn't stop wondering how they even got so far with all the incompetence going around. And what was that about changing the plan on such short notice? I hoped they would stick to the original one, I had short enough preparation time as it was I didn't need a last minute change.

"Don't worry, Eduard told us to leave the files there, but I only now understand why." Alfred slapped a hand on my back and grinned. "But he's right, Mattie you shouldn't give him a list, just tell him the names, he'll be fine." Matthew rolled his eyes at his brother, I was not sure though if he disliked the nickname or something else. "I wasn't going to _write_ a list, I just chose the wrong words, I'm sorry, it happens." Maybe I should have been more concerned about the fact that Eduard apparently planned for me to find those documents. I had always thought that I had been quite subtle about my investigations but it seemed that at least Eduard had been aware of them for quite a while now. And that damn bastard had dared to play dumb with me.

Maybe I should let Mathias take a bite from him. It sure would help with his attitude.

I forced myself to focus on Matthew, it was imperative that I memorized the names; I needed to know who to look out for after all. Mathias was uncharacteristically quiet, I would have expected and outburst after the revelations of Eduard's schemes but he stayed silent.

Whatever the reason was for that, he would tell me eventually. We both listened intently to Matthew, even though the people he named weren't really big surprises. Almost all of the Emperor's personal court was involved and of course the Emperor and his family, which only consisted of one other person, namely his brother. But surprisingly a few names were not mentioned, so the court did not only consist of snakes.

"Don't get mistaken, the whole of the court is behind the Emperor, but only those I named know what's going on. I know that the Emperor gave the order to execute your parents and I can even tell you who the one was who killed them, but we have reason to believe that his decision was partly influenced by those people around him.

I thought about it for a moment. "The executioner, was he ordered or did he by any chance volunteer for that job?" I had just assumed that it had been a soldier ordered by his Emperor, one did not simply disobey his orders. But Matthew's words implied something far more sinister than that.

"Couldn't you have said that earlier?" Mathias growled from behind me, causing Ivan to perk his head up and let out a growl himself. I wondered if they ever got tired of that. "I didn't think it necessary; the Emperor still made the decision, all I'm saying is he could have been influenced."

I sighed with a bit of exasperation." It doesn't matter; you want to kill all of them anyway do you?" Matthew nodded and exchanged a quick glance with Ivan who at some point had resumed his smiling. I wondered what his secret was, we were talking about potential mass murder and he looked like he was enjoying a nice stroll through a park in summer. But then again Alfred looked as if he was ready to inflate like a big balloon full of merriment. Yeah I know, don't ask he how someone can actually look like that but trust me, he did.

"See, then there is no problem." I finished as we stepped outside. It was around afternoon judging by the position of the sun which meant that it most likely would be dark when we returned if we didn't depart soon. I still didn't know what I should think of these three weird people and their rebellion and I needed some time to think about it.

"Talk to Eduard once you're back." Matthew suggested and I nodded. "We will see each other in a few days when I have arrived at the capital." I van said with a smile and held his hand out for me to shake. I knew from Mathias that most dragons didn't like human gestures but I still took Ivan's hand and shook it, having a careful eye on his expression, but nothing changed.

Alfred was next, but instead of a hand he stepped forward to hug me. I was so surprised that I just stood there frozen and only when Mathias pulled me out of Alfred's arms did I move again. Mathias glared at Alfred but the latter wasn't impressed at all, he only grinned and waved at the other.

"We'll probably see us afterwards." Matthew said with a soft smile and mimicked Ivan by extending a hand. I shook this one too and then the tedious task of saying goodbye was finally over. "Oh and better stay away from Arthur, people might get suspicious if you suddenly are close." Matthew instructed and I raised an eyebrow at him. "I may be doing this for the first time, but I'm not stupid." I threw a pointed look at Alfred for no real reason aside from wiping that balloon-look from his face, judging by the angry 'hey' he yelled, it worked. Matthew only laughed and stepped back into the doorframe as I turned to walk on the path that led through the village towards the place we had landed before.

Only then did I notice that Mathias had been talking to Ivan. Ivan was smiling, what a surprise and Mathias carried a carefully guarded expression. I couldn't hear what they were saying but they separated with a look of a somewhat mutual understanding and Mathias nodded one last time before he followed me down the road.

"He promised me to show me how to transform midflight." I resisted the urge to look back, it wouldn't hurt for Mathias to learn that technique even though he wouldn't be able to use when I was riding on his back. "That'll come in handy, I guess." The village was as empty as on our way here, only the occasional glowing of light behind the windows betrayed the presence of humans.

It felt good to finally leave the village and be in the open again, and the way down the hill slope would be much easier than the way up. "It should work the other way round to, shouldn't it?" I asked once we left the last houses behind us. "I mean I doubt that Ivan will leave the village every time he takes flight, he should be able to jumpstart his transformation. Maybe he jumps from the roof or something." As a reply I only got a grunt and I returned to silence once more.

Still I wondered what was up with Mathias, he had his phases when he would be lost deep in thought, but eventually he would come out and tell me. Right now though it had to do something with the previous encounter and I was rather curious about what he was thinking. Unfortunately those phases sometimes lasted for hours, sometimes even days. I couldn't possibly wait so long.

I had to make preparations; an operation like this was nothing that should be taken lightly. Still I already felt the thrill of the hunt, after my seemingly endless search I finally had the answer and I was close to fulfilling my heart's desire. There was something that still eluded me though. How did I miss the obvious for so long? It should have been pretty obvious from the moment I found those documents that it was the Emperor who was behind all this. Yet I hadn't concluded that and continued to poke around in the dark. And now things were falling just too easily into place. After two years with barely any clues, suddenly one decisive clue led to the complete unveiling of the mystery. And there was something about that clue; the documents seemed fishy somehow…

"I don't trust them." Mathias voice broke through my concentration and I almost stumbled over a loose pebble on the ground. Usually Mathias would have jumped in at that moment to catch my fall, but this time he was too distracted by whatever it was that occupied his mind. Not that it mattered much, I was able to balance myself before I fell, but it was alarming nevertheless. Mathias never let his guard down, not when it came to me.

"Why?" I asked and slowed down a bit so that Mathias was walking next to me. His eyes were trained on the distance and I felt a little envious at his ability to walk surefooted without watching his step. But that would at least explain why he didn't react to my stumble. "Their story was too smooth. It just so happens that our goals overlap and we find that out in the course of two days." So Mathias had thought about something similar than I.

"You're right." I said slowly, "But that could also be accounted to dumb luck." Mathias turned his gaze to me, and suddenly he seemed incredibly old. It was almost as if I could see the years he had lived engraved into his eyes. The sight was haunting and I had to look away. And for a fleeting moment I felt dread at the thought that this was to be my future, the eternity that lied before me, the time that would pass me by and leave me unfazed.

It was a terrifying thought and yet the moment passed as I reminded myself that unlike Mathias, I wouldn't be alone.

"That is something I learned a long time ago, things are never easy and coincidence is never so _coincident_." Mathias returned his stare to the horizon and I followed his gaze, wondering what it was that drew his eye. But maybe it was a memory he was looking at, something from a past that was long before me.

"They acted as if they didn't know who we were when we arrived; only when we were proving to be cooperative did they reveal their little ruse. And both their dragons, Ivan and that little pet of Eduard, I felt neither of their presence, something I know for sure is only possible with magic."

We had reached the spot where we landed when we arrived and Mathias turned to look at me, the haunting look in his eyes was gone, now he only appeared tired. "There is something wrong here, I simply don't know what. But I have learned the hard way to better trust my instincts on this." I suddenly felt the urge to touch the claw marks on my chest, and I raised my hand subconsciously only to stop myself in midair.

"So what do you suggest? As long as we don't know for sure if they are lying or even what exactly they are lying about, we can't do much, can we? We have come too far to just stop now, and maybe they are just careful. We could betray them after all and then their rebellion would be screwed."

"Be careful, watch out for a possible trap and be on guard as much as possible." Mathias began to take off his shirt and I sighed. "There is not enough time to investigate much." He said as he tossed me the shirt. "We are always on guard." I mused as I watched the afternoon sun play on his smooth skin. The sight was arousing but I couldn't allow myself to get distracted every time Mathias undressed, it was a far too common occurrence for that but I still liked to enjoy the view. Unlike now, when the implications of Mathias' suspicion were too heavy to dismiss.

"What about Ivan, you talked to him and you both seemed... friendly." No, that was not the right word for it, they were dragons, wild ones who knew a life without restriction through a human hand; they weren't _friendly_. They felt some sort of respect for each other, but that wouldn't stop them from ripping each other's throats out if they met in the wrong season.

Wait…

"That's the thing." Mathias had stepped out of his pants and folded them before he pressed them in my hands. "He claims to be wild, but he doesn't act it. He's too friendly. If a wild dragon of the old days had ever managed that ability of his he would fight to keep it a secret. And Ivan agreed to share it just like that." Mathias stepped away from me to get some space but he didn't transform yet.

"Maybe he just doesn't know that, there shouldn't be many wild ones left, and they are descendants of tamed dragons that had escaped the slaughter." "It doesn't work like that. It's an instinct, every dragon has it. If dragons cluster it always comes to fights and bloodshed so it is written in our DNA if you will that we keep to ourselves. Even the tamed ones have it but they aren't free to act on their will. But you should have noticed how they never truly seem to go along. We don't fight either but that is again only because of the spells."

So there wouldn't be a friendship between Mathias and Berwald.

"So it was a test? You asked him just to test that? But what does it mean? There were no spells on him so it couldn't be that he was tamed, could it?" Mathias shook his head. "He was trying to appease us. He feels the instinct but he doesn't know that every dragon has it and that it's a ground rule to keep away from each other. Whatever they want from us they want it badly or else Ivan would have choked on his attempt to be friendly."

I sighed again as I caught some strands that had escaped my cross hair clip and pinned them back where they belonged. "So we better be careful."

"Yes." And with that Mathias started his transformation.

And what about those other dragons that belonged to their group? They hadn't said a thing about them, I didn't know how many there were or what they looked like. This smelled more and more suspicious. I only didn't get why they would lie to us. It just didn't make any sense.

Why couldn't it just be easy for a change?


	16. Reconciliation

**A/N**: Sorry I missed the update date yesterday, but I was busy and then simply forgot ,. If anyone finds gaping plotholes, please report immeadiately to HQ (meaning me) because I noticed a few lose strings that I probably tied the wrong way but because of the crappy things real life puts me through I don't really have the energy to check on every detail. Okay it's not that bad but there might be tiny plot holes, you can point them out anyway though. We live to learn or something. Everyone have some chocolate and enjoy the following chapter.

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I used the flight back to think about what happened today, but I didn't really came to a conclusion other than to be careful. I couldn't help but to feel annoyed by the fact that things were turning out to be overly complicated. But there was no helping it, this was our closest chance we ever had since it all started and I wouldn't pass it by.

Ember was deep in thought too, but I couldn't even begin to fathom what his dragon mind would conjure out of the depths of his memory. Mathias once told me that his brain worked differently in dragon form than when he was human. It was more relying on instinct then and he was able to process things at a much larger scale. But he also told me that he preferred the simple mind of a human sometimes because a human could lie to himself, a human could shut out a truth he didn't like, but most of all a human could forget.

A dragon could never escape the memories that were engraved into his consciousness.

That was of course an opinion that had been born after living for longer than a millennia, far longer than that and it was an opinion that wasn't shared by most of other dragons. But they young and foolish, none of them would grow old like the dragons of old did; none of them would experience the burden of the years. Mathias once told me that he believed that the old dragons died out, not because of the corruption through humans; no they died out because they were tired. They had no longer the will to fight back; they had lived too long and seen too much to find any joy in living.

It was almost tragic in some way. Dragons were ancient creatures, their lives spanned millennia and yet they weren't built to face the years. Or maybe they could just no longer bear what the world had become after the humans had first laid hands on the sanctity of their existence. But it didn't really matter, they were gone now and what was left were mere shadows of their greatness.

Mathias had been rather young when he was imprisoned down below our castle and in terms of dragons he still wasn't old, but in the time of his imprisonment he had grown weary and there were dark moments when he would have ended his life if the chains hadn't restrained him. When I came to free him he had originally planned on leaving behind the human world and die alone somewhere under the open blue sky. Maybe he would kill a few humans beforehand to make his end taste sweeter but that eventually changed as he fell in love with me.

At least that was what I concluded out of his behavior. He had told me he loved me and that he wanted to show me the world after my revenge was done. And even though he never outright said it I was sure that I had given his life meaning again as he had given mine. I had never put much thought into the future, into what I would do once I had avenged my parents. But now I had something to look forward to, someone to share it with me.

And sometimes the mere thought of it made me smile.

The sun was dipping close to the horizon when we finally reached the capital. The dragon towers stood like sentinels, casting long shadows over the city underneath, while their peaks were still basked in light. A red glow was draped over the western sky, painting the clouds in an eerie color. It remembered me of the red that adorned some of Ember's scales, embedded in darkness casting their lonely light out into the impending night.

By the time we were landing the sun had completely vanished, only a soft red glow remained but even that was disappearing fast.

The process of Mathias transforming had almost become routine and so I just tossed him his clothes and waited until he was dressed. Secretly I thought the reason that so many Dragon Tamers were gay was because they saw their charges naked on a daily basis and believe me when I say that dragons were very well fitted when it came to certain body parts. But not only their midsection was easy to look upon; their whole body was a source of visual delight, the strength of their species easily translated into the beauty of a human body.

And it was not that the Emperor would condemn such behavior. Fornication with dragons had been forbidden in the first dragon era but nowadays it was a no big deal anymore. A human and a dragon couldn't have children no matter the constellation, so society had found ways around and marriages which often were arranged anyways were often more similar to business deals and as long as offspring was produced, no one cared.

There had been some controversial concerning homosexuality but since most of the nobility and even the Emperor's family had at least one gay member the discussion had died down rather quickly. And what the people thought had never been of much concern to the Emperor.

That actually reminded me of something. The plans I had found in Alfred and Matthew's abandoned house had included a few ideas on improving the situation for the common folk. I was not that big of a supporter of the lesser classes but even I saw the advantages of that. No matter how questionable the trustworthiness of Matthew's group was they had some pretty good ideas.

Damn this made things even more complicated. If things continued like this I would become even more conflicted about this whole thing than I already was.

But I couldn't bother with these things right now I had to go find Tino and talk to him. If possible I wanted to keep him out of all this, he should have never joined the military and the least I could do was to protect him from getting sucked into a conspiracy.

It was still early in the evening so most likely he would be in his quarters but not yet sleeping. I rushed down the tower and into the palace, Mathias close behind me and soon we had reached the door that led to Tino's room.

I stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. I had decided to talk to Tino but I had no clue _what_ to say and after the kind of brusque way I had left the last time we saw each other I really wasn't sure how to go about all this. But there was no point in delaying and so I raised my hand and knocked.

There was a sudden ruckus and I heard something drop and then a shout. I got the awkward feeling that I might have just interrupted something. The door was pulled open and I had a flustered looking Tino before me who wore nothing but a bed robe that had been clumsily draped over his shoulders.

Yep, I just interrupted something.

I would have left then and returned tomorrow but from the looks of it, they wouldn't be getting it on again anytime soon. Berwald was kneeling in the middle of the living room, I could see him from my spot through the open door of the reception room and was busy with gathering the shards of whatever had dropped and smashed earlier.

Tino seemed surprised to see me and I couldn't help but wonder who he had expected that he rushed to open the door dressed like this. Maybe I didn't really want to know. I could feel however a wave of amusement rushing over me, originating from Mathias who found it strangely entertaining to walk in on two people having sex.

"Oh hey Lukas." Tino didn't seem as enthusiastic to see me as he used to and the look in his eyes was almost conflicted. "Can we come in?" I asked tentatively and after a bit of hesitation Tino gestured us in.

I didn't know of Tino had already been contacted by Eduard, how much he knew in that case or if he was still blissfully ignorant. But before I would start on that topic I had to get a few other things out of the way first. It wouldn't really help if I just questioned him out of the blue; there were things between us that needed to be cleaned up. And most of all I had to make at least some amends for my year long neglect. A friendship wasn't mended so easily but I felt with all of my heart that I wanted this relationship to be healed. I wanted to be friends with Tino again, like in the old days when my life was free of any shadows.

I only hoped that the dragons wouldn't get between us.

Berwald had finished sweeping up the remnants of their little accident and disappeared in the bedroom to get some clothes on since unlike Tino he had been naked. Really, I had gotten far too used to the sight if naked men. Not even Tino's half naked state bothered me as much as it should.

We sat down on the same chairs we had sat the day before when we had talked about Eduard. Strange how long ago that seemed now, but it had been only a little more than 24 hours since then.

"What do you want?" Tino asked and pulled his robe up that had slipped down from his shoulders. It was kind of sad that he immediately assumed that I wanted something, but then again it had been like this for the last two years. I had only approached Tino if I wanted something which was rare enough but still it couldn't have escaped him.

I wasn't really sure what to say and so I just said the first thing that came to my mind. "I'm sorry."

Tino was silent for a moment, his usual easy to read face gave nothing away and I feared that it may have been too late for an apology. The pang of guilt and pain that stabbed at me at the thought came as a surprise; I should have never let this get so out of hand. But then Tino's expression softened and he smiled at me. "What are you sorry for?" He asked, still smiling.

I averted my eyes, admitting that I my mistakes had never been my forte and I felt the strong urge to just turn and go. But I had decided on this and I wouldn't run away. "For being such a terrible friend." I said quietly, eyes still trained on the ground. But this was no good, what use was an apology if I couldn't even look him in the eye. I raised my head with a bit of effort and returned Tino's curious gaze. "I have treated you like shit for the last two years and I wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I realized how good of a friend you are and I don't deserve you at all."

Berwald returned from the bedroom, now fully dressed and stood behind his master, a silent and threatening figure, mirroring the one behind me. It was weird how much used we all were to the dragons, by all means their presence should have bothered us while talking about private matters, but they didn't, not at all. I had grown so used to Mathias' presence that I sometimes didn't realize he was there. I didn't forget him or anything I just didn't think of him and when I talked to people who weren't used to dragons they would feel inhibited to speak freely. I assumed that it was similar for Tino.

"Lukas, don't worry, you've been through so much, I can understand." Tino got up from his seat and stepped around the table and after a reassuring nod I got up and threw myself into Tino's outstretched arms. "We are friends." He whispered in my ear as he pressed me close to his chest. "But I was a horrible friend." I replied, my voice muffled against Tino's shoulder. "It doesn't matter; you came around in the end." Finally I smiled; the situation was a bit absurd, with me hugging a half naked Tino and two indifferent men standing around like indoor plants, but it felt good, more than good. The relief was almost too much to bear, finally I had my best friend back and after I nearly lost him I had realized how much he meant to me.

Eventually I pulled away and guided a now beaming Tino back to his seat. "You know for a moment there I thought you had come yet again to ask a favor of me and I was close to slamming the door in your face, but then I thought you were my friend so I could at least hear you out and then slam the door in your face. I was glad that I let you in though." I grimaced and dropped back into my chair. Tino's words stung, but they were undoubtedly the truth. "Sorry about that." I muttered and looked away, I never had said sorry so much on one day before. This better not became a habit. I got lucky that Tino was so forgiving and caring; else he really would have kicked me out without hearing me out first.

But now I had another matter to address and with this one I had to be even more careful. I fiddled with the hem of my shirt as I searched for the right words. I couldn't just ask him right out, I didn't want to tell him anything he didn't already knew of the matter. This secret could very well cost him his head. To my surprise though it was Tino who spoke first, and I didn't like one bit what he was saying.

"Eduard came to me earlier today and told me about _things._" The way he emphasized the last word left no doubt about the content of their conversation. I sighed heavily and absentmindedly tugged at the curl that poked from my otherwise well behaving hair. "I know now what you have been up to." A shadow flicked over Tino's face and he looked at me with clear discontent. Before I could respond in any way he continued. "But I understand and I will help you."

The sentence hung in the air like a heavy raincloud that was about to burst any second. My eyes were widened and I could just stare at Tino who had spoken with a determination that I only knew too well. My eyes quickly moved to Berwald but his stoic face didn't give away what he thought about the matter. But I imagined he wasn't too happy about it, he had a way of overprotecting Tino, in this case however I couldn't agree more with him.

"No." I finally said and shook my head lightly to further indicate my point. Berwald sighed, the sound was so silent I almost missed it, but it proved more than anything that my case was lost. No one, not even Berwald changed Tino's mind once he was set on something. It seemed Berwald had already lost that battle.

"I don't condone your revenge, but after Eduard told me everything I feel like I need to help you. Not with killing people but with helping the change. I have thought for a long time now that this government is corrupted and this war has simply gone on for too long. We need to change and as long as the Emperor is in power we are stuck. I'm not doing this for you Lukas, at least not solely; I'm also doing this for me and this country. We _need_ peace and we need it soon." Tino was looking at me, he was smaller than me, a fact that had always bothered him but now he didn't seem small at all. Even Berwald's imposing shadow behind him suddenly seemed insignificant and small.

"Tino-" I started but was immediately cut off. "No, Lukas stop it. I know what you are going to say, you want to keep me out of danger and protect me, but I'm telling you no. I love you, you are my friend, but I have never needed your protection, nor will I ever. Please, don't always act as if I'm weak, this is my fight too." What could I answer to that? He was right, wasn't he? He had tried to help me and be there for but I had shut him out of my life, always with the half-assed justification of protecting him, but he had never needed my protection.

And he was right on another thing; this was his fight too in a way. Should the rebellion succeed things would drastically change around him and someone like Tino was the ideal person to keep these changes as beneficial as possible. When did he become so big on his own?

"Fine." I finally accepted, "but promise me to be careful." I stared intently at Tino, Tino who sat in front of me with a bed robe on his shoulders and a grin that hinted to a leisurely weekend trip and not the abdication of our leader. "And don't even think of getting in the way of my revenge. I will kill that man, no matter the cost." It was frightening how close I had been to say 'even if it costs me my life' instead, but I had promised myself to stay alive, for Mathias' sake and the sake of our future.

Tino wasn't happy at all about this but he still accepted with a nod. I was sure however that he would try to prevent me from killing the Emperor anyway that was just the kind of person he was. But I would take care of that once we got there, until then I was just glad to be reunited with my best friend.

Little did we know back then about the things that would happen.


	17. Dominance

**A/N:** Okay the SuFin sidestory is finally finished but I won't post it right away since the main story hasn't progressed far enough. But it will be there. It will take a while until I have finished the Germancest sidestory since I'm in a bit of a tight spot and don't get much writing done and that story is lowes priority at the moment. But don't worry, I will write it and thanks to GarGoyl I already have a plot in mind. Have fun reading!

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I felt better than I had in a long time after that conversation with my now again best friend. I hadn't realized how much this friendship meant to me and now that it was mended a burden had been lifted from my heart. Only two weeks now, two weeks and my revenge would be complete. I had originally planned to leave with Mathias right away but maybe just maybe I would stick around and spend time with Tino, after all I would have more than enough life at my hand to see the world afterwards.

I felt a smile tug at my lips at the thought. I had spent more than enough time in darkness; it was time to see the light again. "I was ready to die you know." I said into the empty corridor before me, the sound echoing into the void until they reverberated back and reached the one who was meant to hear them behind me. The words had come as a surprise, even for me. But maybe it was time for them to be spoken.

Mathias steps halted and I stopped to, but I was not yet ready to face him, so I continued to speak to the empty corridor before me. "When I came down to you to make a pact with you I was ready to give my life for it. It was obvious I guess but even when you seemingly were satisfied with my body I waited for the inevitable. I never planned to survive my revenge and I would have been glad if I died by your hands."

Silence followed my words and seemed to echo even louder through the empty halls than my voice had. Maybe I should have said this earlier but I had never felt that it was necessary, we had started on different terms and time had changed almost everything. But right now it felt like the right moment to address this, Mathias deserved to know what went through my mind, especially when it had concerned our relationship at some point.

"I had nothing else in my life that was worth living for, and I felt like this was the only course I could take. But then you changed everything, you gave me something to hold in to." I placed my hand on my chest where the claw marks were etched into my skin. It was comforting to know that they were there.

"And now all I want is to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't care if I have to give up my titles and my rank for you." I briefly wondered what would happened to my family's ranks when I was gone without an heir. I had no relative left so the Bondevik family would end with me and the vacant seat in the council would be taken up by another noble family. There were enough of them that desperately wanted to rise to the rank of head family. I never understood what they found so appealing; I had always felt burdened under the social expectations that weighed down upon me.

Maybe I would inherit the titled to Tino though; he had a good heart and would put the power to good use. He was not the firstborn in his family so the only way for him to gain influence was through the military, and that was no place for him.

"Lukas…" It was a command and at the same time a plea and so I finally turned finally to face my future. Mathias expression was unreadable but then he was smiling, it was a warm smile, one I had never seen before on him and it made my heart beat faster in my chest. "I know." He simply said and for a split second there was glint of something dark in his eyes, an old reminder of the beast that had been chained away under tons of stone. "I always knew, it was one of the reasons I agreed in the first place."

We were still standing in the corridor, a few feet apart, only illuminated by the soft glowing ceiling light that dipped everything in an orange color. Someone could come around the corner at any second but neither of us cared. "If it weren't for the desperate way you sought death I would have just killed you the moment you released me." Mathias' expression had changed as he seemed to remember that particular moment. "I couldn't have cared less for your revenge, but there was something about you that excited me and so I decided to stay with you and see how far you would come before I killed. Taking you was just a bonus."

"And then you fell in love." I added solemnly, locking my eyes on his. "And then I fell in live." Mathias repeated and was smiling again. "You are magnificent and irresistible." At his last words I could see Mathias' tongue flick out and wet his lips as if in anticipation of a delicious taste that was to come. And maybe that was not so far from the truth.

"Let's go to our room." I said with a light smile and turned around to continue on our way, but not before I had cast Mathias one last promising glance. It was time to try something I had wanted to do for a long time now.

For quick fleeting moment I had the fatalistic thought that maybe this was one of the last chances I would get at this, because for all I knew we could die in two weeks.

That was of course nonsense, Mathias would protect me and even if not everything would go as planned, which it rarely ever did, we would make sure that nothing bad happened.

Mathias had of course picked up that I had something planned and I could feel him grow restless as we neared the door to our rooms. I rarely took the initiative, not because I didn't want to but because he usually was faster and more forward than me. But I had wanted to try something for a long time now, as much as I loved being dominated by Mathias' rough way of making love and of course the rarer times when he was gentle and caring, for once I wanted to be the one in charge, I wanted to be the one who orchestrated his pleasure.

I couldn't help the devilish smirk that crept on my face, the thought of what I was about to do to Mathias made me almost giddy. When alone the thought was enough to make this excited I couldn't wait what the actual thing would do to me. I wasn't exactly sure if Mathias would like it but I was about to find that out.

As soon as we entered into the reception room of my chambers I turned around and slammed the door behind Mathias. He was too good to be startled from my surprising actions, instead he watched me with a slight curiosity. "Mathias, tonight I'm going to show you who the boss is." I tried to lay as much seduction in my voice as possible and indeed at the slightly hoarse tone Mathias visibly shivered. For a moment he looked as if he was going to protest, to struggle and to fight me for dominance but then he smirked and bowed his head.

"Show me then." The words were taunting and dripped with confidence but I didn't miss the obvious challenge behind them. He wouldn't fight me, not for real, he _wanted_ me to take control, but he wouldn't make it easy for me. This was a price I had to earn and oh how I was going to earn it.

I bared my teeth in a feral snarl, an expression I had seen Mathias make so often and it had always stirred something deep within me, a lust for something wild and rough and if Mathias could use it, why shouldn't I be able to?

It was a foreign feeling but I instantly fell for the rush of power as I grabbed Mathias and shoved him on the bed and the sight of his body just toppling down onto the sheets sent a surge of adrenaline through my body. I licked my lips as I took Mathias wrists and pinned them down on both sides of his head and straddled his waist. Mathias struggled, not for real though; I wouldn't be able to keep him down if he seriously wanted to get me off, but enough to create the illusion of a fight. And I still had to use a bit of force to keep him in place.

It was exhilarating to exhibit this much power, even though deep down I was aware that it was not truly my power since I was dependent on Mathias' allowing what I was doing. But it didn't matter the rush was undeniable and I felt a familiar warmth build in my lower body.

I roughly kissed Mathias, biting his lips in the process and earning a defiant growl in the process. I pushed my knee between Mathias legs and pressed it against the bulge that had formed in Mathias' pants. Mathias groaned and arched his back, closing his eyes at the friction I caused to his half hard member. I used the opportunity to open Mathias short and pull it up so that I loosely pooled around his arms. Mathias, aware of what I was planning tried again to break from my grip and I had to use a bit of force to hold him down.

This was only enhancing the power induced rush of blood in my body, the more he struggled, the more strength I needed and the more excited I felt when I fought him down yet again. I tied the sleeves of Mathias shirt together, transforming the garment into a bond for Mathias wrists and restricting his movements further by tying the overhanging sleeves to the bedpost. The know was crude at best and if he were serious Mathias could break it with ease but he stayed and watched me with hungry glinting eyes as I sat up to look at my handiwork.

"I didn't know you could be so cocky." Mathias taunted and followed my every movement as I sat back on his legs and slowly opened the buttons on his pants. I smirked again as I leaned down and opened the last button with my mouth, which actually is quite hard but I managed nevertheless. "I didn't know you like to take it like a bitch." I answered and made a show of licking my lips only inches above Mathias' growing bulge. Ah the look of defiance on Mathias' face was like honey that sugared a delicious cake.

Before Mathias could answer I had dipped down and put my lips on the prominent form of Mathias' penis bulging out of his pants. A gasp and a jerking of hips was my reward and I reprimanded him with a grazing of teeth to remind him that he better hold still if he wanted me to continue. I could feel the tremble in Mathias' body, he _wanted_ to take control and throw me over but he was hold in place by the burning pleasure in his chest that just as much wanted to see how far I would go.

I continued to nip at Mathias' member through his pants, my hands pressing down on Mathias' hips to keep him down. It was of course only teasing and soon I grew tired of that. It was time for the real show. The fabric over Mathias' erection had become moist, if with my saliva or his precum I could not say, but it did not really matter anyway. I prodded my tongue one last time against the bulge before I rose and pressed a demanding kiss on Mathias' lips.

It was new for both of us that I took charge, Mathias was usually very dominating with his kisses, he would only allow the most minimal resistance and in the end I would always succumb and let him claim my mouth. But this time it was different, I didn't allow Mathias to retaliate as I took immediate dominion over his tongue. It was refreshing to take what I wanted for once, not that I didn't like what Mathias did to me but he always decided what we would do and how.

I released Mathias' lips after I had thoroughly ravished them, leaving him even more breathless and with an unmistakable blush on his cheeks. Now I knew why Mathias liked to tease me so much. The sight was truly delicious. But the best was yet to come.

I slowly unbuttoned my shirt, taking my sweet time with caressing the skin I was exposing and making a show of sliding the garment from my shoulders. "I heard you have been bad." I whispered with a husky voice as I tossed my short on the floor. Mathias growled lowly as he eyed my pale torso. "I take that as a yes. Seems like I have to punish you, you naughty boy." I laced my voice with a bit of the authority I had grown so used to exhibiting over the last two years and popped open the first button of my pants.

Mathias eyes were fixed on my hands and I could feel his breath accelerating under my hands. "I hope you don't plan on punishing me with your body that would be almost too easy." Mathias taunted again and licked his lips as he watched me slipping my hand inside my pants. I smirked, something I had done rather often this evening, and leaned forward to bring my mouth close to his ear. "Oh I will use my body, but not on you." I let my breath ghost over the nape of Mathias' neck and delighted in the shudder that elicited.

"I have something else for you." I reached to the nightstand and pulled a long black leather string out of the top drawer, the bottle of lube was already positioned on the drawer since we used that more frequently. Mathias eyes widened ever so slightly as I took the string that he had used so often on me before to rub it over my bare chest. My other hand was busy undoing his pants and once I had freed him of them, as usually he was wearing no underwear, I tied the string around the base of his throbbing member, tight enough to prevent his release.

Oh how often he had made me beg to come before, mercilessly teasing me until I was on my knees pleading for mercy, pleasing him until he could no longer hold back and took me. And I had loved every second of it, but now it was time to return the favor. "I see, this is revenge, isn't it?" Now it was Mathias' turn to smirk, despite being tied down he still had his cocky attitude. "You talk too much." I commented and pulled another sporadically used item out of the drawer. It was a pleasure to see Mathias' smirk fade, it was only a little but it was enough.

Yet he obediently opened his mouth and allowed me to gag him, he even lifted his head to make it easier for me to close the clasp at eh back of the gag. It was all part of him showing me that no matter what I did, he would always have the upper hand. Well we would see about that.

I picked up where I had left off, pushing down my pants and stripping my underwear until I was naked. Mathias' hungry eyes were on me, spurring me on and I complied willingly as I began to play with my nipples. They had always been a quite sensitive part of me and it wasn't long until I was panting lightly as I pinched and squeezed the tiny nubs. Mathias moved his hips, trying to rub his erection against me but I constricted his movements with my legs. I could have just tied his legs down too but I figured that another interruption would only hinder the show.

I wandered down with my hands after I had played enough with my upper body and began rubbing my hard member. I even rewarded Mathias with a few rubs against his cock, making him close his eyes and arch his back with a muffled moan.

As I deemed the moment right, I grabbed the bottle of lube from the nightstand and poured a generous amount on my fingers. Mathias eyed me cautiously, there was a look of challenge in his eyes as if he wanted to dare me to use his body for once, but I had other plans. I rose on my knees and turned around so that Mathias had a good view of my backside and I judged from the sudden intake of breath that he just now realized what I was about to do. A long time ago I would have been embarrassed by this but I knew that Mathias loved every fiber of my body and I didn't mind it all to expose myself to him.

I spread the lube around my entrance, pulling my cheeks apart as wide as possible so that Mathias could see as much as possible. Another sharp intake of breath followed by muffled groan accompanied the intrusion with the first finger. It was unfamiliar doing this to myself but not at all unpleasant. I knew my body well and so, after a bit of wriggling around, I found my prostate rather soon. I moaned loud and shamelessly once I found it and soon added another finger to increase the pleasure.

Mathias jerked at his bonds, yet he upheld enough restraint to leave them intact, I had to say I was rather impressed. I in his place would probably long have torn free, bent me over and shoved my penis deep into my ass. The thought alone of Mathias doing this made me moan and I increased my pace, no adding a third finger to come closer to mimic Mathias' girth.

My member was twitching as came close to orgasm, my fingers against my prostate and the thought of Mathias deep inside me was almost too much to bear at once. Mathias tried to say something through his gag, his hips were pushing up against me and I knew that he wanted me as much as I wanted him.

I pulled my fingers out only to replace them with something much bigger and better in the next moment. I slid down the whole of Mathias' length and let out a loud moan that overshadowed Mathias' lower grunt of pleasure. I rocked my hips before I started lifting up and slamming down again, starting with a fast pace because I couldn't wait any longer. Mathias was soon meeting my movements; I couldn't see his face since I was still with my back to him but I didn't need much imagination to know what he was looking like.

I reached between my legs with clumsy fingers and hastily undid the string around Mathias' member, I wanted to be filled by him when I came and that was impossible with that thing still attached. As if that was a signal I suddenly felt strong and warm around me that pressed me close to a broad chest. Mathias had somehow undone his bonds without me noticing but at this point I didn't mind at all.

Mathias pulled back and thrust into me, making me almost scream and I dug my fingers in his thighs to keep me from losing control completely. "Let go." Mathias hoarse voice rang in my ear, he had removed the gag too and as I felt his hand around my member I lost the last of my restraint. I came with a long drawn out moan, spilling my seed over Mathias hand and slumping forward as I suddenly was drained of all my strength. Mathias held me in place and thrust into me a few times before he too released with a deep moan that send shivers down my spine.

I collapsed on the bed as soon as Mathias released me, I was too spent to move and so I just lay there, eyes half closed as Mathias got up after a while and moved around the room and cleaned me up. He knew that I hated it to fall asleep with cum over me and so he would always take care of that before he crawled into bed with me. It was one of the things that truly amazed me every time but it made me just love him so much more.

Mathias slid in behind me after he had killed the lights and cradled me to his chest, spreading the covers over us. "You should do that more often." His breath was warm against my sweat covered skin and I could hear the grin in his voice. "I will." I replied and closed my eyes, replaying the sex scene in my head. Oh yes I was definitely doing this again. And next time I would use a dildo!

...


	18. Invitation

**A/N: **Woohoo things get serious soon!

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It was a night full of blissful sleep, I was deeply satisfied and the feeling carried on into my dreams. I couldn't really remember the contents of my dreams but they were pleasant ones and I woke up, feeling well rested for the first time in a long while. Little did I know that the feeling would be used up rather quickly.

My backside felt a bit sore but I was used to that and I only saw that as a reminder of the wonderful sex I had the night before. The day was still young, I had been woken by the sunlight and not my alarm and as I lied there I wondered if I should wake Mathias for another round. There was nothing better to start a good day than with a steamy round of sex.

But before I could decide on the matter a firm and urgent knock on the front door erased every possibility. Mathias stirred beside me and as the knock sounded again he jerked awake. Mathias had a curious waking behavior, usually he slept through almost everything and I had to take on drastic measurements to wake him up but in case of danger or a threat he not only woke instantly but was also on high alert.

It left a sick feeling in my stomach, knowing that whoever knocked on my door most likely hadn't come with good news. A dragon's instinct in such matters was infallible. Mathias sat up, his hair disheveled from sleep but his eyes were clear and awake. His nose twitched as if he was trying to catch a very faint scent and I waited with bated breath. I had learned the hard way to better trust Mathias' instincts.

A third and this time even more urgent knock disrupted the silence that had filled the room and Mathias' face was suddenly filled with confusion. "You can open the door." He said slowly, frowning as he tried to make sense of the danger he had felt. "It should be harmless." He still seemed a bit unsure of that but not enough to deem it as a risk and so I got up, quickly dressing in a bed robe and went over to the front door. Whoever it was that disturbed out morning he or she had alerted Mathias' sense of danger but seemingly as a false alarm. That was quite unusual.

I gingerly opened the door, it was better to be careful, no matter what Mathias felt or didn't feel. I didn't know what I expected but certainly not the man that stood before me, it was one of the Emperor's personal lackeys, all in uniform and carrying an official looking document lying on a gold plate. I imagined I must have looked pretty stupid, standing in the half open door with a look of total bewilderment on my face.

But he was a pro and so he simply held the gold plate in front of me, waiting patiently until I realized that I had to take the document. He then bowed stiffly and walked away with a curt 'Good day Master Bondevik'.

I seriously didn't understand what just happened.

And that document, with _that_ seal. Oh no. It was the Emperor's personal seal, not the seal of state that he put under all of the documents regarding the Empire and neighboring countries but his family's own private unofficial personal seal. That he only used when he addressed people as himself and not the Emperor.

This couldn't possibly be good. I gaped for a while longer at the parchment (parchment of all things, what the hell?) in my hand before I remembered that I was still standing in my doorway. It would be kind of ridiculous if someone happened to pass by right now. I stepped in and closed the door behind me, but I still couldn't tear my eyes of that innocent piece of paper, I mean parchment, in my hand. Who even used parchment these days? It was ridiculously expensive compared to perfectly normal paper. With all the war going on it was hard almost impossible to get the ingredients to make parchment. And here I was, holding precious quality A parchment in my hands with the personal seal of the freaking Emperor. This could only mean important business, really important business.

And the day had seemed to start off so well…

I walked back into the bedroom where Mathias was sitting on the bed, waiting for me to show him what I had received. He wrinkled his nose as I came in with the parchment and turned his head away. "Smells like trouble." He commented and leaned back against the headboard. Now I was even more reluctant to open the seal, this could only be bad news.

No one liked bad news in the morning.

But there was no helping it and so I carefully broke the seal that concealed the probably awful truth I was about to uncover. I unfolded the parchment and scanned the text that was written in neat but a bit fancy handwriting. Oh no.

No.

No.

No.

Somewhere during reading the text my chin had decided to fall down and only the cold hard ground stopped it from taking a dip in the underground pools. I read it again and again but the meaning didn't change and when I finally was convinced that there was no other message that would pop out when I only looked the right way I handed the document to Mathias.

Mathias eyes widened significantly as he read the few words that were scattered so carelessly on the expensive parchment. The letters were even written in gold, not just good old boring ink but gilded ink, made from real gold that had undergone some special treatment. And yes that tiny red dot embedded in the signature was a real damn ruby.

A ruby, for a freaking signature, in gold.

And here I was, stupidly thinking that the Empire had money problems, but no apparently we still had enough money to buy fancy stationery supplies. But of course the wealth that was displayed with that message was not the major problem here; that was the message itself. "That unequivocally contradicts the statement that money doesn't stink." Mathias said dryly and handed me back the piece of parchment. Oh I should have listened to Mathias instincts and just ignore the door. Or I should have tossed the blasted thing into the fireplace.

I raised the document to read the message one more time. Maybe the contents had changed in the meantime.

_My dearest Lukas,_

_I'd like to invite you to a cup of tea this afternoon in my private chambers. We haven't talked in a long while and there is a lot to catch up on. Please feel free to bring Mathias with you; I'd like the chance to introduce myself to him._

_Imperially yours,_

_Yao Wang_

I felt the sudden urge to crumple the affronting document and toss it out of the window. What the hell was that man thinking? I started pacing through the room and slowly, ever so slowly my anger that had been repressed by the initial shock was rising. That bastard had killed my parents and now he dared, he _dared_ to call me his dearest Lukas. And he wanted to drink tea with me.

I was part of a god damn rebellion that wanted to overthrow and kill him and he had nothing better to do than drinking tea with his to-be murderer? Splendid, why not? Maybe I could serve a dagger in the heart along with the cookies. Oh and just how dandy would the Emperor's favorite black tea taste with a bit of blood to spice things up. Would you like some bloody ears with your cake?

I threw the document with all my might on the bed but since I hadn't gone as far as crumpling it, the effect was meager at best. Mathias watched silently as I continued my angry pacing, I couldn't for the life of me decipher what he was thinking. And that was always a bad sign. But I was too absorbed in my own little rage fit to pay much attention to Mathias.

I simply couldn't fathom how things could get so out of hand in such a short amount of time. I finally knew who the murdered of my parents was and I had worked out some form of plan to get my revenge and now the Emperor just decided to have a dainty little tea party? This couldn't be coincidence. This was under absolutely no circumstances coincidence.

But that could only mean one thing.

It took a lot of effort, but eventually I managed to calm down enough to think clearly again. I sat down on the bed, suddenly exhausted and tired, so damn tired. Mathias had watched all this indifferently but he seemed to sense my distress since he gently pulled me in his arms so that I could rest my back on his chest. His warmth was calming and I closed my eyes to get a better grip on my thoughts.

Why did things always have to be so complicated?

Mathias rested his chin on the top of my head; his presence helped me to calm down further. "What should we do?" I asked, eyes still closed as I leaned back against the warmth of my lover. I was used to make the decisions on my own and rarely ever asked Mathias for his opinion, which he would convey nevertheless more often than not, but at the moment I felt that I could need another input. And with an experienced man like Mathias at my side it was stupid to rely solely on myself all the time.

"I think we should go." Mathias said, his hands were stroking my sides reassuringly and I allowed myself to relish in the feeling. It was rare for Mathias to simply show affection, he was more the rough type who took what he wanted, but in these moments when I needed the comfort he would take me in his arms and hold me for however long I wanted to.

"Not kill him yet though. There must be a reason as for why he wants to see us now of all times and I have a feeling that this reason might be important. Besides if we'd kill him know the Empire would be thrown in chaos and I doubt that is what you want." Mathias placed a kiss on my head, his nose brushing through my hair and I let out a sigh. I didn't like it.

But he was right.

"What if it's a trap?" I asked. The light of the morning sun was drifting in through the window and made dust motes dance in the air. I raised my hand to block the light, and the dust disappeared, but only where my shadow fell. I dropped my hand again and the dust was back with its eternal spiraling dance. It was almost philosophical.

"I don't think it's a trap." Mathias answered, he whirled his hand around in the air to disturb the dust but as soon as his hand was gone the motes resumed their lazy swirl downwards. "It wouldn't make sense; he could just kill us like he did with your parents." It was odd. I used to feel anger or hurt whenever someone mentioned my parents, and a sentence like Mathias had just uttered would have made me especially angry. But now there was nothing, no emotion stirring in my chest, he could have talked about the weather for all the reaction it caused from me.

And I used to be so angry.

It was almost sad how much time had worn out on my wrath, now there was nothing left but I was still holding on to my revenge. For the first time I felt that this all was not worth it. I had wasted the past two years on my revenge and once I was done, nothing would remain. It was truly pointless.

I blinked a few times, the dust continued its dance, swirling around in the air, settling on the furniture, on every little item in its way and the moment of doubt was gone. I had simply come too far to stop now; I would pursue my goal until the end, as unrelenting as the dust that floated through the room.

"Let's go then. Let's go drink tea with a dead man."

I could remember days when we had better plans than this, but since we couldn't just ignore the Emperor for no apparent reason, that would look, I don't know, maybe _suspicious_, and yes that was what we wanted to prevent for as long as possible. And even if it was a trap, I was confident that Mathias would be able to deal with it. I would feel sorry for Matthew's crew though, they would have to deal with the ensuing chaos, but I wouldn't pass by the chance to kill the Emperor if it presented itself to me.

But it couldn't hurt to prepare a little. I sent Mathias to the kitchen to order breakfast, it was still time until the afternoon and we could both use the strength, especially since we hadn't eaten much the day before. While Mathias was gone I went into the bathroom and took the time to groom myself a bit. There was no point in trying to tame that one wild curl that seemed to float at my head but I could at least bring some order to the rest of my hair. Flying around all day did a lot to destroy one's hair style.

For some unknown reason I had been spared from facial hair up until now but I still took the time to look over my chin and cheeks to make sure that not any sneaky hairs had sneaked up on me. Not that the Emperor would care for such details, at least I thought so, but I wanted to appear impeccable. I didn't truly care for looks, but among court they were an important currency, the good looking, and even more the perfect groomed good looking rose higher in power, if Ludwig was any indication.

I didn't want to think of Ludwig though, I didn't really want to face him, but I had to acknowledge the possibility of him being an obstacle. I wouldn't falter in my conviction, no matter who I had to face, although I would try to avoid any confrontation aside from the one with the Emperor.

Once I was satisfied with my face I left to wait for Mathias and the food. I wondered if I should maybe arm myself but I had only ever been trained in swordfight and I doubted I would be able to smuggle blade of that size past the Imperial guards.

It was that thought, as inconsequential it had first seemed that stopped me dead in my tracks. I had been so focused on killing the murderer of my parents that I had never thought of just exactly how I would do that. Technically I had the best weapons at my hands a human could wish for but that would take the deed away from my hands and somehow I knew that wouldn't satisfy me. I wanted to kill him with my own hands.

I looked down at my pale fingers, they looked almost fragile and not at all as if they were capable of taking a life. I flexed my fingers, but I felt no strength in them, the calluses from my training days long since gone. I hadn't laid hand on the hilt of a sword since the day my parents died. Mathias had become my sword, he would strike everything down that stood in my path. But that wouldn't be enough this time. I wanted to feel it myself, the heartbeat that faded under my grip, the blood that flowed through my hands and the life that fled from the lung I had just torn.

It was almost strange, all this time my revenge had been an abstract idea, I wanted to 'kill' but I had never really filled the word with meaning. Killing equaled ending a life but it didn't stop there, killing was brutal and cruel and it had to be done with my own hands.

I had imagined it countless times; the feeling once my revenge was complete but I had never imagined the actual deed. I had imagined the dead in the eyes of a phantom whose identity I did not know until recently, sometimes he was young, sometimes he was old, and sometimes he even was a she but I had never thought about how the life would leave those eyes.

Despite the strangeness, despite the foreign taste of bloodlust on my tongue, I didn't waver. In essence this was all I ever wanted, to rip the life out of the man that had killed my parents, just like he did with them.

The only relevant conclusion was painstakingly simple. I needed a weapon. It wouldn't be enough to strangle him, I wanted blood and I wanted pain. I wanted to look into the Emperor's eyes and see the fear and the terror in them while I tore his body apart. I wanted to taint my hands with his life until I was covered in red.

The door opened and Mathias entered, trays with food in hands and I stopped the frantic pacing I had started in mental search for an adequate weapon. It had to be small so I could hide it but basically it could be anything as long as it inflicted pain. I wasn't picky at all.

Maybe I should just use a spoon, that had the advantage that it would be served with the tea. Oh wouldn't that be ironic, the Emperor killed by an accessory to his favorite drink. As my mind filled with images of spooned out eyeballs, Mathias set up the plates, seemingly oblivious to my thoughts but I knew better.

He was aware that something was up, it was evident in the way he watched my movements but he chose to stay silent about it. I sat down and grabbed the fork, but instead of eating I instead took a closer look at the peace of silverware.

Okay this was going a bit too far, I could choose a weapon _after_ breakfast, I wasn't used to being so bloodthirsty and I wasn't sure at all if I liked it. I should be disgusted of myself by all means, I was thinking of mutilating and slaughtering a man after all.

I dropped the fork and stared at my food, suddenly all appetite was gone. What had happened to me that I could think of something so horrible so easily and with_ joy_? It was not so much the killing; I had killed plenty of people already, from the back of my dragon, raining flame and destruction down on helpless men who couldn't defend against the terror from above. But that was war and thereby different. Or so I liked to think.

But killing a man in cold blood, not only killing but torturing him was a whole other story. The thought tasted bitter in my mouth and I took the glass with water to flush it down.

Was it really worth it?

I looked at the glass in my hand, the clear liquid reflecting my image back at me, twisted and contorted, just like my insides felt. My hand trembled, sending ripples through the surface and my mirror image was gone, only a blur of colors left. I felt empty and desolate; the burning desire for revenge had been snuffed out like a flame by a careless summer breeze.

"Mathias." I said, my voice sounding feeling on my parched tongue, "Tell me, is this really worth it?"

But at this point, I wasn't even sure if I would be able to stop.


	19. Secrets

**A/N:** The SuFin side story will be posted together with chapter 21, but I will write a reminder in that chapter. The Germancest side story is almost finished and will either be posted between this chapter and the next or together with chapter 20. The SuFin will be named 'Letter' and I still don't have a clue how I will name the Germancest one. Well have fun anyway ;D

* * *

Maybe it was unfair to ask Mathias for justification; he was after all only a tool that I had utilized for my selfish plans but he was the only one at the moment who could me the answer I needed, even if it was a lie. I kept my eyes downwards, locked on the unyielding floor as I waited for Mathias' next words.

Although his words were not at all what I expected. "You are human .You yourself give the things you do a meaning and as long as you believe what you're doing is right it is. It's as simple as that." I tore my eyes from the ground and looked at my partner, whose words left a strange aftertaste in the air. But still the message remained as clear as could be. The answer lied within me and that made things incredibly easy and unbearably hard at the same time.

"But no matter what, _I_ believe in you." Mathias hadn't moved from his position, leaning casually back in his chair and eyes trained on me, a faint smile adorning his lips. And just like that, it was enough for me. I had met Mathias at the beginning of this path and I would see it through to the end with him, if only to leave a clean slate. Doubt would only hold me back.

I picked up the fork again and stabbed a piece of the omelet on my plate; I needed to stop making things unnecessarily difficult. The answer to my problem had been there the whole time. "Mathias." I said thoughtfully after I pushed the first bite of denaturized egg past my teeth and swallowed it. "You will be my sword." It was not a request it was a statement and I didn't need to look at Mathias to know that he nodded in silent approval. He had probably realized that long before me and had only waited for me to come to the same conclusion. There was no need for me to dirty my hands, in a way Mathias was closer to me than any blade could ever be.

And he had earned the right to kill him.

We finished breakfast after that and I used the remaining time until the afternoon to find something suitable to wear for both me and Mathias. Neither Mathias nor I had many clothes, after the death of my parents I had abstained from most social gatherings like parties and receptions, so I had almost nothing formal to wear. Mathias wardrobe was even worse; he had an assortment of shirts in various shades of red and a few black pants. And one black coat he never wore because it was too stuffy. That was all, literally.

I decided to leave Mathias in his usual outfit, the colors reflected his dragon form, and they were more than suitable in my opinion. Besides the fabric was excellent quality and fitting of a noble's companion. It was not that I wanted to look nice for the Emperor, but it was required by etiquette and I didn't want to be reprimanded for ignoring it, as stupid as it might have been.

I would have to improvise but I figured that the Emperor wouldn't be too strict; he had summoned me on short notice after all. If I had a choice in it I would simply dress as I usually did but I had to at least try and obey the palace dress code.

What a hassle.

The only good thing was that looking good would hopefully put me in the Emperor's favor; I knew he had a thing for cute things so maybe I should go for that. But that would mean I would have to cater to his desires and I couldn't bring myself to do that, so good looking needed to suffice. I was looking forward to when this was all done and clothing matters would no longer have to matter to me.

I slammed the wardrobe door shut and slipped on my clothes; Mathias had long dressed and was now watching with a rather impassive stare how I paced through the room. First I had been angry, and then came a more or less resolved state followed by confusion and doubt and finally I had grown annoyed with the invitation. And then as the clock neared the time we had to go, annoyance transformed into nervousness, only my constant pacing remained the same.

Of course I could have done something more productive in the time but I just couldn't focus on anything. I was almost relieved when the time finally came and we had to go. At least the waiting was over.

The hardest part was that I had no clue whatsoever about what awaited us, if it would be bad, worse or the worst possible case. I didn't expect for a second that it would be pleasant.

To my surprise there were two Imperial guards waiting at our door. For a terrible moment I thought they has been sent to arrest me, causing Mathias to tense behind me and ready for an attack but they both only bowed and one said: "Milord, we have been sent to escort you as a courtesy of his Imperial Majesty."

To make sure that we didn't ditch him probably. Mathias relaxed again and fell in line a few steps behind me as I followed the two guards through the corridors. They were wearing parade uniforms that had no real practical use aside from looking prim and proper. But the effect they had on the people we encountered was impressive. Everyone got out of the way as fast as possible and bowed deeply when we passed. I could feel their heavy stares on my back but I was used to unwanted attention so I kept up a cool and indifferent façade.

The Imperial quarters lied in the center of the palace; a corridor weaved around them in which guards patrolled at regular intervals. The rooms could only be accessed through one big double door that was flanked by two guards at all times. It wouldn't have been easy for us to sneak past them, and somehow I doubted that violence would get us far. I had deep rooting suspicions that there were secret passages that connected the Imperial quarters with the outside world; else the whole thing could easily turn into a death trap.

It was not the first time that I was granted entry but it had been a long while since the last time and since I had been a kid back then, accompanying my father on a visit, I had not many memories of the insides. Even as a noble I could not simply grant access to the Emperor's rooms, I would need to go through the Imperial Administrator for a private appointment. Sometimes on rare occasions the Emperor would allow his people to come and beg him for help with their problems but the time he granted was short and most people had to go home without getting a chance to see him. The only ones with permanent access were of course the Emperor, his personal attendants and the few choice people that made up his personal court, all snakes in my opinion.

But with our guards we were just waved through and to my astonishment not even searched. Maybe I should have brought a knife with me after all. The doors led into a reception room that was way bigger than mine, there was a big mahogany desk at its head and the room was lined with chairs and pillows. It was a business room but it still gave off a rather comfortable homey air. At this moment it was empty though.

We were led through another door in a short corridor and through yet another door into a room that I remembered functioned as both a lounge and the Emperor's private reception room for special guests, in this case, us.

The guards stayed outside as we entered and I took a moment to take in the surrounding. The walls were lined with book shelves and the big windows let in a lot of the afternoon light, casting a warm glow on everything. The Emperor sat at a table that was situated near a window, but he got up the moment we entered. I had half expected that I would be overcome by an urge to kill him once I saw him but strangely enough nothing of the sort happened. I only felt slightly sick at the warm smile he used to greet us.

"Lukas, I am so glad that you followed my invitation. It had been such a long time." He said, still smiling. I still couldn't get over the fact how small the Emperor was. Sure I was not the biggest person around but the Emperor was still an inch or so smaller. Somehow in my mind the figure of the Emperor was always big and intimidating. But like this, in informal wear and with his long dark hair only lightly tied to a ponytail he seemed rather normal, and harmless.

How could a seemingly nice and warm person like this do such a horrible thing?

I knew I was required to say something but I couldn't find any words, this was just too surreal. If the Emperor was bothered by this he didn't show it, he simply went on to greet Mathias. "And this must be Ember, no pardon me, Mathias is it?" Unlike me Mathias hadn't lost his voice he answered with an impassive tone that was close to impolite. "Yes, your majesty." "Oh please, there is no need for formalities here, call me Yao."

Oh.

Oh no.

You got to be kidding me.

So the Emperor, the man I was going to _kill_, just allowed me to be informal with him. I wouldn't have to kill him formally, terrific. I would have face palmed hadn't that provoked questions. I couldn't help but feel that this turned out to become more and more ridiculous. That was the last thing I needed, to become fucking friends with the Emperor before I killed him. Damn now even my language was slipping, albeit only in my head.

Thankfully no one had noticed my temporal lapse of mind and the Emperor, no Yao I corrected myself, was gesturing for us to sit down. I plopped down rather unceremoniously on one of the chairs and eyed the contents of the table with suspicion. There were cakes, looking delicious no less, various cookies and three empty sets of plates and corresponding tea sets that only waited to be filled with delicious tea.

A servant entered a moment later with a small serving cart that carried three teapots in different colors. He placed the cart adjacent to the table so that we could chose ourselves which tea we'd like to drink. After a short explanation of which pot held what the servant disappeared again.

This was just brilliant.

Yao insisted on pouring us the teas we wanted and he seemed awfully cheerful about it. The only good thing I could find in all this was that we were actually alone with the Emperor; the flock of scheming snakes that usually surrounded him was nowhere to be seen. I blew over the brew in my cup and took a tentative sip, I didn't want to burn my tongue after all. Mathias helped himself to a slice of chiffon cake and placed a slice of strawberry cake on my plate, correctly guessing what I liked.

Yao filled his plate with weird kitten shaped cookies, smiling at us through all of it. Weirdly enough all the cakes had some sort of cute decoration; the strawberries that topped the whipped cream on my cake had little ears and eyes. I stabbed the weirdly offending strawberry with my fork and ate it, feeling strangely satisfied about the matter.

I doubted I had ever used the word weird so often in such a short time. Weird.

Maybe I should just kill the Emperor right here and be done with it. I was actually about to alert Mathias to my change of plans, since he would be the one to do it, but before I could get the message through telepathically, Yao spoke up, and what he said wasn't at all what I could ever expected.

"You want to kill me."

It was a statement and not a question and for a moment I was too stunned to even react. Mathias however was up and standing behind Yao in a matter of fractioned seconds, his hand placed almost casually on the Emperors shoulder and I knew that if I gave the signal he would be dead within the blink of an eye.

Yao seemed calm despite the imminent danger he was currently in, he kept his eyes on me, not at all perturbed by the dragon that could snap his neck any moment. "That would be very unwise of you." Yao said, pointing his head towards Mathias while at the same time trying not move it too much. "You can kill me now but that wouldn't help your cause at all, for I am not the one you're looking for." He took his cup to take a sip and even though he tried to appear calm I noticed that his hand was shaking ever so slightly.

So he wasn't as calm as he wanted to appear to be.

It was this small detail though that stayed my hand and subsequently Mathias', he was unsure about the situation, he still had something to lose and that made me curious. "What do you mean?" I asked, leaning back in my chair, Mathias didn't move an inch. As far as I was concerned we had the situation pretty much under control. Yao hadn't called the guards yet and I expected that the reason that prevented him to do so would remain for a while.

"You want to avenge your parents." Another statement and I started to wonder just how much he actually knew. "But I was not the one who killed them." I snorted, if he was going to word pick now I could as well kill him. The temptation to just stab him with my fork grew with every word he said. "You gave the order that makes you just as guilty." I decided that the cake was too delicious to be wasted and instead of abusing the poor fork by stabbing the Emperor I instead took another bite of my strawberry cake.

Yao sighed and suddenly seemed tired, no exhausted really almost as if he had carried a heavy burden for quite some time no. "I know you have no reason to believe me-" Yao started but was interrupted by a growl from Mathias who had grown impatient. "Damn right." But he carried on as if nothing happened. "But I swear to you by everything you want that I neither gave the order nor had any hand in your parent's death." It would have been so easy to just assume that he was lying and ignore that small voice of doubt in my head, and kill him, it would put an end to all this and I would be finally free. But there was something in his posture, in the way he spoke that made it incredibly hard to believe that he was lying. And there were those doubts too, the doubts I had about what Matthew, Ivan and Alfred had told us.

For a moment I was about to unleash Mathias, to give him the order to strike, just to be finally done with it, but then with more effort than should be I decided to hear him out. I gave a hidden sign to Mathias and he visibly relaxed, he even put down his hand but he stayed where he was, clearly not happy with my decision. "Tell me." I commanded, taking another sip from my now cooled down tea.

And so Yao did, and while I was listening I came more and more to the conclusion that it definitely would have been easier to just kill him off, but it was too late for that now. The only comfort that remained was that I probably did the right thing.

"Why should I believe you?" I asked once he was finished, the question was but a farce because I saw no reason to doubt him, thus had chosen to believe him. But it could never hurt to ask. "Because I invited you here, even though I knew that it could be the end of me, just to make sure that you learned of the truth." I raised an eyebrow skeptically; somehow it was hard to believe that Yao would just lay his life in my hands like that. "You're saying that you didn't have anything in your sleeve?" That was really hard to believe.

At least Yao had the decency to look away from my stare. He didn't answer though, but I didn't need one anyway, his reaction was evidence enough. "Very well then, I believe you, just one thing." I laid down the fork I still held in my hand and Mathias finally stepped down to return to his forgotten cake. "Why?" I asked, drawing my finger over the table cloth, following the intricate pattern that was embroidered in it. This had changed everything and I couldn't say I was happy about it.

To my surprise and slight annoyance Yao laughed at my question but quickly fell silent at my glare. "The same reason most things happen, power." I nodded, he was right of course. The drive for power motivated worse things than even this. "The war?" I asked, ceasing my nervous finger dragging and focusing entirely on Yao again. "What about the war?" Yao seemed honestly confused and for a quick angry moment I wanted to slam my hand on the table.

"Why is the war still going then?" I narrowed my eyes, lying as much of my contempt I felt for the war in my voice as possible. At first I hadn't really cared about the war but the more I was sent out to battlefields to bring destruction upon our enemies the more I had grown to despise it. It was completely unnecessary in my opinion. Not to mention the resources that were wasted in the war efforts.

Yao sighed and the look of exhaustion was back, but this time it had something final as if he had long since given up on the matter. "I would have ended it but that is no longer my decision." An expression that was too similar to pain for my liking flitted over his face and he traced the rim of his cup with an almost lost air about him. "I am a mere puppet with only so much power. Frankly, there is almost nothing I can do, not even about the war but about the government too."

"Who are the ones in power then?" I wished not for the first time in the past hour to not have asked. As complicated as it had been the previous situation had been much easier than the situation now. And I could no longer turn my back on it either. I knew too much for that.

"It should be obvious." It was Mathias who answered to my surprise; he was looking at Yao with intent as if he saw something there that I missed. "I'm surprised they let you meet us like this." Mathias continued with a certain hint of doubt in his voice. "They don't know." Yao simply supplied and suddenly I understood.

I had wondered before where the flock of his personal court was and now I had the answer. It was like Mathias had said, it should have been obvious. Only their power reached much further than I had ever suspected.

What a mess.

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	20. Decision

**A/N:** First of all I have posted the Germancest sidestory, the name is Prism, for those of you who haven't seen it yet.

And second, I'm sorry to tell you but I have to go on a small hiatus again. Reason this time is that I have started working on monday for two weeks and I have highly underestimated the workload. I work from 8 to around 6 and when I'm home I have to prepare and pack everything because I move in two weeks. I will probably go without internet for a week after I have moved but at least I will get to write a lot in that time. So here's a chapter I thankfully had already finished before all this. Have fun and don't worry I'll be back!

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Since my day had just gotten so much worse I decided to have another piece of cake. There was nothing that couldn't be mended by cake. At least that was what I liked to believe. I feared that it wouldn't help this time though. Still cake was never a bad okay, unless the cake was a lie.

"I'm sorry." Yao looked at me, a somber expression etched on his face. Suddenly the bit of cake in my mouth tasted like ash and I lowered the fork I had just raised to take another bite. Yao was not the one who should apologize and yet here he was. I smiled wryly and swallowed the rest in my mouth, ignoring the ashen taste as best as possible.

"It's okay." I said as I watched the leftover cake with remorse. Blueberry cheese cake no less. "I was ready to bloody my hands, it doesn't really matter whose blood it is." Yao didn't look too happy at my words; a sardonic smile was adorning his lips. "You don't have to do this." He said softly and I had to avert my gaze so that I didn't have to see the sad look in his eyes.

"I'm neither doing it for any political reasons nor for you." Yao's words had struck a nerve but I wouldn't allow myself to stray from my path, not after what I had just learned. Too many things had happened to go back. "It is tragic that we have to go this far, but at this point I can't see any other way."

I shrugged, I had chosen this path a long time ago, to me it was no difference who I had to kill. Ha, so this was what had become of me. Maybe the betrayal Yao had told me of had been the last straw. I no longer cared about the rest of humanity, aside from Tino of course.

"I can't take care of everyone though." I leaned back in my chair. In a way it was easier like this, emotions only tended to get in the way, now I could focus on the business side. "I will help you with your 'problem', because it coincides with my revenge, in return I want your support. It's as simple as that."

I knew of course that I was denying reality that I refused to face the truth behind these new developments but at this point I didn't care anymore. I was sick of the lies, the struggling for truth; I just wanted to be done with it.

"I have my own men; I trust them with my life. Not everyone in my court is a traitor, but those who are true to me, have to remain hidden." Yao explained. "And I have spies; else I wouldn't know what was going on with you and your revenge plan." I had a certain hunch about who that spy was, the only one who was clever enough to pull something like this off. "Let me guess, Eduard?" I had long since stopped counting how often that man had surprised me now.

I sighed, deeply. "This isn't your only man on the inside, is it?" I didn't really want to know the answer. I had decided to believe Yao, because his words had made sense and because I had had reason before to distrust the others but I felt more and more doubts creep up my back. Eduard had switched sides so often for me now that I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was a quadruple agent or something.

"Of course not, I have men in both the rebel organization and my own court. Well actually half of the court is spying on the other half for me. That is why I know for a fact that the rebels disposed of your parents because they had started to second guess their motives. I'm sure they started out as a group of idealists, no I know they did, but time wore them out and now they are as power hungry as the snakes in my court." It seemed that the knowledge had burdened him for a long time, despite his youth Yao suddenly appeared as an incredibly old man. Who knew, maybe he _was_ that old, there were enough rumors speaking of a secret youth potion, brewed by the Imperial sorcerers that kept the Emperor young. I couldn't remember the day he had been crowned, the date was somehow shrouded in secrets. Not even my parents could remember the day, but then again many things about the Emperor had been kept away from the people. The rumors could as well have been true. Just another secret to add to the pile.

It was tiring really.

"As for the army, I don't trust them really, most of them are susceptible to corruption. Except for maybe one person and his men." Oh who could that possibly be? "Let me guess, Ludwig?" I asked dryly. Somehow his name turned up everywhere, it was a plague really. Yao sighed, not seeming too happy about it. "He's fiercely loyal and will probably support me because he feels it is his duty, but he holds no true allegiance to me as a person." I snorted, it was a dry sound without any amusement. "You're going to be picky now?" Seriously, he tried to ally with me, he should be grateful that he could count on someone as skilled as Ludwig. "No." Yao sighed again and I rolled my eyes.

"Where Ludwig goes, Roderich will follow." I tapped my finger against the rim of the table, sure the rather aristocratic man didn't like to get his hands dirty but he was in a way even more loyal to the crown than Ludwig was. And Emerald could still pull off a fight not to mention Prism. "You should talk to them." I suggested. "Ludwig won't like the idea of a rebellion at all. If you can play your cards right he will support you." And I wouldn't have to fight him.

A smile showed on Yao's face for a change, albeit it was weak and tinged with sadness. "You're right, sorry I forget to see the details at times. All this looking at the big picture makes one blind." I just shrugged at that. My picture used to be pretty simple, find the murderer, and kill him, as easy as that.

After that silence fell over the room and for a while the only thing that could be heard was the sound of the spoon tapping against the mug in Yao's hands. It wasn't an uneasy silence but one that was weirdly comfortable. As if we were a group of old friends that had just caught up on the present.

"What about you? Are you hungry for power?" It was Mathias who raised the question, breaking the silence, but I wanted to know the answer to that as much as he did. The ultimate question was rather simple, who would be the lesser evil. Maybe I should flip a coin on whom I should help.

But no, I had already made that decision, hadn't I? I had told Yao that I believed him and I couldn't really find a good reason to go back on my words. Yet all he gave me was his word and his story, the same what Matthew gave me. There was no proof, not for both of them. "Not anymore." And with the tone of voice he used I couldn't help but believe him.

"Who was the one who killed my parents, and who gave the order?" I asked, I could always go back to them and demand an answer. "I don't know who carried out the attack; it was a secret even from my informant." I raised a questioning eyebrow. "You're telling me there was something that Eduard didn't know?" Yao just shrugged. "He was busy with a mission back then, had he been there he certainly would have told me."

"And you would have warned them." Mathias concluded as I had fallen back in my chair with an incredulous look on my face. Oh the irony. But there was no use in dwelling on that thought, it was too late for that anyway. "But you know who gave the order?" I inquired, slowly I was growing impatient. I needed time to think about all this, maybe consult Mathias. I needed to make an ultimate decision soon, for Tino's sake. If Yao had really told the truth then Tino was in danger.

"The order came from the people in command at the time, the same people who are in command right now." Oh no. This couldn't be good. "Matthew." My voice was barely above a whisper. "Alfred." I had hoped that it wouldn't come to this, because even I had known them only for a short time, I _knew_ them, personally and I had sat and talked with them, I had tried their cookies and I had liked it. "Ivan."

Fucking priceless. See, there went my language again.

"Actually, neither Matthew nor Alfred are leaders in their cause." Yao corrected and I perked up, feeling an undeniable surge of relief. "The one in command is actually Arthur, he and Ivan make up the head of the snake. Matthew is something akin to the brain but I doubt he had a hand in the killing."

Before I could react to that, Mathias spoke up once again. "I don't mind ripping that Ivan apart." A feral smirk spread on his face, a clear sign of just how pissed he was by Ivan. And as I recalled he didn't like the other dragon's either so he would probably kill Lilac as gladly as he would Ivan.

"I need to think." I announced and stood up. This was too much information at once, too much to process and all I wanted was a calm place to sort out my thoughts.

Yao only nodded; the gesture almost reminded me of surrender. It was true in a way he had partly surrendered control over the situation to me and depending on my decision the outcome would be in his favor or not. He was basically at my mercy, but then again he had been at my mercy from the beginning since I came with the half formed intention of killing him on the spot.

I got up, throwing one last glance towards the Emperor of this mighty Empire, a man that definitely seemed too small for the burden he carried, and once again I felt like he was much older than he looked. I wondered what price he had to pay for his youth. One thing I learnt for sure, magic always had a price, even though most of the time It could be paid with the caster's magical energy that could be restored by taking a nap or something. But magic like this certainly demanded an unbearably high price, but no, not unbearably, because someone apparently was ready to pay it.

"I will help you." I said before I could turn around and rethink the decision that I had made in the spur of the moment. Or maybe the decision had been made all along and I had just allowed my doubts to distract me for a while. It was the look in Yao's eyes actually that had convinced me. I had seen this look before, on Mathias who had seen a span of time beyond imaginable. Somehow I couldn't believe that he would look like that had he told a lie.

My words caused Yao to stir in surprise but the look didn't vanish, yet he smiled softly. "I will think of something." I wasn't so sure about that right now, but I hoped that with Mathias' help I would be able to think of a plan. If everything failed I could just send Mathias on a rampage or something. "Thank you." Yao seemed relieved, as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders, and slowly the age faded from his eyes. "The original plan was to execute you when that ambassador comes to visit in two weeks, oh and I should inform you that he's in on it. Actually there are a few other countries in there too, I think." I could as well relay all information, albeit suspected that he already knew.

The lack of surprise and the weary look that returned to Yao's feature proved my suspicion.

Seriously, this guy had so many spies and knew practically everything, still he needed my help of all people to get things done? Maybe because spies didn't replace an army.

Wow, so we were an army now, Mathias and I. God I seriously needed a break to just think. And probably a lot of sex, because sex always worked to clear up my mind.

I waved a dismissive hand and grumbled something that was supposed to be a goodbye but came out more like some unintelligible gibberish. I was too annoyed to bother with these things right now. "Let me know when you have a plan." Yao called after me as I walked through the door, Mathias right behind me. That would be another problem though; I couldn't just walk into his quarters like it was nothing that would be suspicious as hell. But maybe I could contact him through Eduard, I didn't trust him though, he had a few too many irons in the fire for my liking.

This was too complicated; I should just go on a vacation or something. Who knew that getting revenge was such a tedious business? I knew I should have thought this through more.

We walked back to the big double door that marked the entrance to Yao's part of the palace but before I could step through I was stopped by Mathias. "Wait, let me check first if there is someone waiting for us." Mathias said, voice barely over a whispered as he stepped past me and neared the door.

At first I was confused and didn't understand what he was hinting at but then I realized that it was definitely a possibility. Eduard was apparently clean but aside from him and Arthur there must have been other members of the rebellion stationed here I didn't know about.

Arthur should return soon from his mission and I supposed that things would get even more complicated then. Not that it would matter at this point though. Mathias stood pressed to the wall, listening to something only he could pick up with his dragon senses. I didn't really want to know how he did that, too much magic and stuff.

Thankfully the guards stood outside the door or else they would have noticed our rather weird behavior. Mathias stepped away from the wall and nodded, it was safe outside. I pushed open the door and walked past the guards that flanked the door, Mathias one step behind me.

I hurried more than usually because Mathias' cautiousness had reminded me of the danger we were still in and I liked to be in the safety of my quarters. It was a questionable safety at best, but still better than being in the open like this. I was turning paranoid now, brilliant.

My mood dropped with every meter I put past myself and Yao, I had been pretty sure about my decision and still liked to think that it was the right one but I was not immune against being in the wrong. Only that I couldn't afford being wrong this time. And worst of all, I needed to talk to Tino, he could end up on the wrong side. Or rather he was on the wrong side and I had to get him out of there.

My troubles never ended, huh?

"Okay we need a battle plan, now." I said once we were in our quarters, too restless to sit down and instead starting to pace through the reception room. "We shouldn't do anything hasty." Mathias suggested but I waved it away, that one was obvious. "We need to talk to Tino again." I thought out loud, Mathias leaned against the window sill, following my pacing route with calm eyes.

"We could just waltz in and kill all of them." Mathias tapped his foot against the wall and then shook his head. "But they are not in one place, after the first attack they will know." I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my pants, but as soon as I put them there I pulled them out again. There just seemed to be no right place for them.

"We shouldn't do anything." I finally said, it seemed easy but the plan had more than one flaw. "We just wait until the designated time, when they plan to strike and then intercept them." There could go so much wrong with that but I couldn't think of anything better. "But we need more details, about who is where and has to do what." But at least that one should be easy.

"Eduard." Mathias supplied and I nodded. I so didn't want to meet up with that person again but as it seemed I had no other choice. Or maybe I could go and try to speak to Arthur? But no that would only be suspicious, because Matthew had told me explicitly not to talk to him because that would be suspicious. Oh the irony.

Who else was there?

No one, I knew of at least.

I briefly contemplated to kick the side table to vent out my frustration but I figured that I would only end up stubbing my toe or something. Eduard it was then. But first came Tino. Not today though, I was too wired to converse calmly. That would only end badly if I tried to talk to Tino now, let alone Eduard. "We also need to think of something to do with the rest of the court." Mathias reminded and I groaned in annoyance. "Just make them collateral damage." Maybe that would actually work. "They will be there I suppose, we'll just see what they'll do and act accordingly." Right, another perfectly thought through plan, I should do this professionally.

I finally ceased my pacing and went through the door into the main room. "Come here." I commanded and Mathias followed, mostly because he wanted and not so much because of the order I just gave. I sat down in an armchair and kicked off my shoes, leaning back with a deep sigh.

Mathias followed me and stood behind the chair, resting his hands on my shoulders. My sigh almost turned into a purring sound when he started to massage the tense muscles that had formed there over the day.

I would relax for the rest of the day and do nothing really, well maybe let Mathias pound me into the mattress, but certainly nothing that would cause more stress. There would be enough of that tomorrow.

"Damn conspiracies." I muttered with contempt.


	21. Tragedy

**A/N:** Here I am, finally back again. I didn't get as much writing done as I had hoped but still I wrote a decent amount. This chapter here is accompanied by the long promised SuFin story (named Letter), and let me just say this: Be glad I didn't leave you with this chapter for three weeks :O

I'm going to upload the side story now, yay.

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The next week passed in a blur. Time had always seemed to be so slow for me but now suddenly time flew. I had a deadline now and the more days passed the more I got the feeling that I wouldn't make it in time. Eduard had gotten me all the information he could offer, after a nerve wracking conversation in which neither trusted the other and we just kept staring at each other until Mathias finally snapped and forced us to get some talking done.

But that was only one thing.

I still needed a plan, that went further than, 'going there and just see what happens'. Not to mention that Matthew had sent an agent to keep tabs on me because naturally they had learned of my little date with Yao and now they wanted to make sure that I didn't get any ideas. I even had to play host for Arthur and his dragon Francis once, even though the original plan had been for us not to communicate. I had to make up a plan that I could present to him so that he wouldn't get suspicious.

And the worst part was maybe that neither Arthur nor the other agent were intimidating or unfriendly. I could have lived with that because it would have made it so much easier. It was easy to betray people I didn't like, because if they were acting the bad part it wouldn't feel like betrayal. But Arthur was polite and amiable and Francis was flirting with me, playfully winking much to Mathias' chagrin.

It just felt so nice, and that made things so much harder because I started doubting that maybe Yao was the bad guy. But then I went to a secret meeting with the Empire to update him on the plan, and then I was faced again with the look of weariness on his face that was so hard to ignore and there really no reason to disbelief him, because no one could fake that look.

There were nights when I was close to ripping my pillow into shreds because I just wanted it to stop.

I probably would have just left if it hadn't been for Tino, but I didn't want to leave him in the lion's den and so I stayed. Mathias helped me as best as he could but he couldn't sniff out lies and so he was as lost as me.

I had talked to Tino but the conversation hadn't gone at planned. My original plan had been to convince Tino to go home to his family's lands and sit the whole thing out there, but he insisted on helping me since he had sworn to protect me. I didn't know what I would have done hadn't Berwald been there, I could at least trust him to keep Tino safe; else I would have simply abducted him.

So Tino stayed and not only that he also insisted on playing his part in unraveling the truth. He believed me when I told him what I had learned from Yao but he mistrusted the whole thing as much as I did. It was a bit ambivalent for me because for one I was glad that someone was operating mostly independent for me but on the other side I didn't want Tino to get in danger.

At this point I didn't have much choice anymore. We were running out of time.

I was aware of course that I needed to make a decision soon because if I failed to make one then we really would have a problem. When that ambassador Sadik showed up and the rebellion group would make their move, expecting me to do my job and I still didn't know whom I should trust it could get really complicated.

Ha, that was the understatement of the century.

And to make matters worse, Ivan would arrive today, reinforcing the men stationed in the capital and I still hadn't a clue about what to do. Maybe I should just kill everyone. The culprit would certainly be among the casualties. Okay that would be Plan Z or something.

This was getting me nowhere, I needed some fresh air and where better to get that than on the back of a dragon.

I decided to not care about the trouble it might get me in to leave the palace at times like these because I sure as hell would get a visit from one of Matthew's men because I apparently would only leave for something fishy. But to hell with that.

It didn't need much to convince Mathias of this idea; he was as annoyed as I with the situation. I briefly thought about asking Tino to join us but I wanted to have some time to think on my own and as much as I liked Tino he could be a bit much at times. Mathias transformed quickly and I climbed on his back. It had only been a week since the last time I rode him but it felt like an eternity.

Ember spiraled upwards and I could see the city underneath us, from up here it all seemed so small and insignificant. The wind whipped the flaps of my coat and I sighed as I let my worries flow away with the beating of Ember's wings. We dived through the cloud layer and suddenly the humans below us were gone, there was only endless blue above and a world of fluffy white below us.

It was cold up here but I didn't mind, Ember's body was warm enough to protect me from the worst of the temperature anyway. I leaned back against one of the poles in Ember's back. It was really time that I pulled them out, I was on good terms with the Emperor (at least I thought so, it was hard to tell these days), so there was really no use in pretending anymore. Besides they were are source of pain for Mathias and in what was about t come I didn't want anything to hinder his movements.

Ember was floating above the clouds, wings flapping from time to time to keep us up and I let the steady pulsing of the dragon's heartbeat that was faintly perceptible through the pillar behind me lull me into a relaxed state.

I didn't know how long I was out but I was pulled from my meditative state by a particular sharp image from Ember. It was nothing special just the image of a jagged rock that protruded out of the countryside but it sufficed to wake me. Good thing though, the last time he sent a particular disturbing image of two penis fencing snails. I really didn't want to know where the hell he had seen that. Or why.

I was surprised that the sun was dipping close to the surrounding already; I had been out longer than expected. "You're right." I sighed, "It's time to go home." But at least my head felt as clear as it hadn't in a long while. Ember circled and then flew again in a straight line to what I assumed was home. He could get me so lost if he wanted.

It was the middle of the night when we finally returned to the dragon towers. A million stars blinked in the sky above us as Ember soared above the sleeping city. There were a few lights down there too but they couldn't match up with the light speckled sky. It was even colder than it had been when we departed and I was glad to return to the warmth of our rooms.

There was a note on the side table in the reception room, waiting innocently for me to read it. I rarely got messages so this was a bit unusual, but considering the turbulent times we were in this was to be expected.

I picked the sheet of paper up and unfolded it, surprised to find Tino's neat handwriting on it. I had half expected it to be from Ivan demanding a meeting or something. Or from Yao who wanted an update. It was a small note and seemed to be written in haste.

_L._

_We need to talk, asap._

_T._

I raised my eyebrow at the shortening of our names but I figured that Tino wanted some fancy espionage feeling. It didn't relay come to me that maybe time had been an issue and still was and so I failed to consider that this message might have been urgent.

There had been more hints, not just the shortness of the message, the writing, albeit neat still was rushed and a few ink droplets dotted the paper. The note had laid a bit off close to the edge of the table as if thrown there in haste and had I just paid a bit more attention I would have noticed that the door to my private rooms was open, even though I had closed it before I left. Tino had looked for me before he left the note.

I tossed the note back on the table and wondered if I should go to Tino's room now or wait for tomorrow. He had written 'as soon as possible' but it was in the middle of the night and he was most likely sleeping. Besides I was tired and couldn't really think at the moment so I decided that it could wait until tomorrow.

Only it couldn't and I would learn that the hard way.

But I was still oblivious to that fact yet and so I ignored the white piece of paper that lied accusingly on my table and went into the bedroom where Mathias was already lounging on the sheets, already undressed and half asleep. The flight had tired him out and he needed his rest. I quickly changed and climbed into bed, snuggling close to Mathias warm body. One perk of having a dragon in your bed was that you didn't need to heat the room, albeit it could get a bit uncomfortable in the summer.

My sleep was restless and I woke a few times in the dead of the night, woken by nightmares I couldn't remember the moment I opened my eyes. When finally the morning dawned I was glad to have an excuse to get out of bed, the sheets were drenched with sweat and I was more tired than I had been when I went to sleep. But I didn't feel like sleeping anymore, so I forced myself out of bed, Mathias was still deep asleep and I knew it would stay a while like that.

I decided to let him sleep for a while longer while I would go and visit Tino. I hadn't really appetite so I would wait for breakfast until afterwards or maybe, since it was still early I would eat together with Tino. I changed into day clothes and then left a short for Mathias so that he knew where I was when he woke up which could be up until to a few hours from now. Sometimes I envied him for his heavy sleep.

Since it was early the corridors of the palace were comparably empty, just as they had been last night when we returned. I hadn't slept nearly enough that night and I knew that I needed to do something about that, I couldn't afford to make mistakes because of a tired mind. If nothing helped I would have to resort to sleeping pills, although I wasn't too fond of that idea.

I reached Tino's rooms and hesitated a moment before I knocked. He was probably still asleep and I knew I would be grumpy if someone woke me so early. But there was still this message and it was as early in the day as it could get for an impromptu visit t be acceptable. I had put this off for too long already so I braced myself and knocked.

Not really surprising that I didn't get a reaction at first. I knocked again and then the door flung open almost in my face, only a quick step back saved me from a meeting between my nose and the door. Tino was standing in the door, eyes wide and he looked even worse than I felt. "Where have you been?" He ground out between gritted teeth and grabbed me to pull me inside before I could even utter my surprise at the door attack.

"Has anyone seen you?" He snapped and immediately started pacing. Berwald was nowhere to be seen and that more than anything worried me. "No, I don't think so." I hadn't met anyone really on my way here and I doubted I had been followed but without Mathias it was hard to tell. Without another word Tino grabbed my arm and pulled me unceremoniously through the door, causing me almost to fall flat on my face.

"Tino what-" But I didn't even get to finish the sentence before Tino was talking again. "Dammit Lukas, what took you so long?" He hissed and I couldn't fail to miss how Tino's eyes darted from corner to corner and lingered on the door only to dart around again. A feeling of dread was creeping in on me, making the hair rise on my arms and back.

"Never mind, we ha have to go." Tino continued before I had a chance to say anything and he took my hand again to pull me in the main room where Berwald was waiting next to a pile of hastily prepared luggage. "Tino what the hell is going on?" I yanked my hand out of Tino's graps and eyed the pile warily.

"Our cover has been blown." Tino took a bag and Berwald started picking up the rest, but I still didn't quite understand what was going on. "What do you mean?" I asked, taking a step backwards as Tino attempted to grab my arm. I wanted an explanation and I wanted it now.

And all the while the sense of foreboding and dread in my stomach grew as I noticed the deranged state both Tino and Berwald were in. They seemed to have packed the night before shortly after they left the message and had waited for us since then. There were heavy bags under Tino's eyes and Berwald looked even more intimidating than usually.

"We don't have time." Tino snapped and brushed past me into the small reception room and to the door but before he went to open it he stopped and turned around. "I'm sorry I screwed up, they know. You were right, they are the true traitors." I didn't need to ask to know who 'they' were; it suddenly was far too obvious. Tino had been investigating undercover and something had very obviously gone wrong. I could have slapped myself for not getting the hints when I first discovered the note on my table, seriously they had been everywhere. The only good thing was that now I had my answer.

I only hoped that it was not too late yet.

My hope however was in vain.

"I couldn't risk to get back to you again." Tino said with a sigh, "they haven't made the connection to you yet but it will only be a question of time until they get you. You should go and get Mathias and then leave. It's not safe here anymore." This time I didn't question his words, instead I nodded. I had fucked up enough as it seemed.

"Let's go." Berwald rumbled, worry was evident in both his voice and features and he kept sniffing the air, searching for a smell that would give away any danger. Tino opened the door as I was fixing Berwald who suddenly tensed and a look of pure horror crossed over his face.

"Berwald." Tino's voice was unnaturally high and I noticed with concern that he stood frozen in the doorway, outside view blocked by his frame. Berwald's expression smoothed over again and became blanker than I had ever seen it before, blank and almost… resigned.

And then a voice sounded, a voice that I had last heard in the mountains in a hidden village, only this time the voice sent shivers down my spine with the sweet malice that was hidden in it. "You lied to me dear Tino. I don't like people lying to me." Ivan said and I could actually see the violent shudder that surged through Tino's body. "I don't know what you're talking about." Tino replied but his voice sounded hollow and it couldn't quite hide the fear.

Ivan however ignored Tino's words and I could hear the sounds of boots on floor as he took a step forward. "I told you what happens to liars." This time there was no sweetness to coat the malice. Berwald suddenly shoved past me, I hadn't even noticed that he put down the luggage and then he was outside, standing in front of Tino and growling lowly in his throat.

Tino spun around, his eyes wide and unmasked horror had dilated his pupils, but before I could do anything he shoved an envelope in my hands that I hadn't noticed was in his hands all the time. "Go." He hissed and pointed to the main room where I knew I could reach the ground from one of his windows. I opened my mouth to argue but a painful grunt from Berwald who had suddenly slumped in the doorway and was very obviously in pain cut my protest short.

There was something in Tino's eyes that didn't allow any objections and so I took a step backwards, still unwilling to just leave and run. "I'm sorry Lukas. The rebels are allied with the traitors in court; you have to get that information out of here." Tino smiled, it was a sad smile, a smile that accepted things that should never be accepted and his eyes glistened wet with tears. "This is my fault, I have to fix this." And with that he turned around and stepped past Berwald and then there was the door between us and I heard only muffled noises and then a scream that made the hair on my back rise and the next thing I knew I was running, through the main room, door slammed behind me and on to the window.

Another wordless scream rang in my ear as I forced the window open and the cool air blasted in around me, rain pouring down in heavy streams as the world cried over unknown pain.

Then the scream abruptly ended.


	22. Gamble

The events after I had left Tino's rooms were all in a haze. I remembered jumping out of the window (thankfully it was on the ground floor) and then running through an enclosed garden within the palace facilities. And all the while my mind was reeling. The bit of information Tino had revealed to me was too much to handle all at once.

I, and not only I but Yao too, had assumed that the rebels and the traitors in the court operated independently, having the same goals but different ways to achieve them. Not only for a second did I suspect that they were allies. That changed everything. And it explained why Ivan could just walk around and threaten nobility; he had half of the court behind him after all, and with that most likely a big part of the Imperial guards and worse, the army.

As far as I knew Yao had done what I told him and talked to Ludwig and it seemed as if he was supporting the Emperor, along with Lord Edelstein. But they had only a small amount of guards, fiercely loyal but few nevertheless. Arthur was on the traitor's side and chances were that at least one of the remaining two Dragon Lords was too, maybe both. Antonio had returned to his station but he was still close enough to the capital to be a threat, the other however was still on his diplomatic mission. I recalled what Matthew had told me, that they had connections to the other nations, what if he was secretly plotting against his ruler?

All these thoughts kept swirling through my head as I ran, trying to deduce just who I could trust and more importantly what course of action to take. I felt the strong urge to go back and safe Tino and it took all my strength to keep going, because I knew I didn't stand a chance alone. If only I had brought Mathias with me. If only I had heeded the urgency of Tino's message and gone to him right away. If only…

My vision was suddenly hazed over with something wet and I realized that I was crying. Up until now I had tried to tell myself that Ivan would never dare to kill a noble, and that Tino was alright, but I hadn't imagined that scream and the awful way it just cut off. I could never forgive myself if something happened to Tino because of my failure.

I had to stop then, I was somewhere in the deeper levels of the palace and still a good portion away from my rooms. I wasn't used to exerting my body like that and the adrenaline was slowly diminishing, leaving only shock and terror. I felt sick to my guts and waves of nausea washed over me. That scream, it rang in my ears, again and again and I couldn't get rid of the image of the complete horror in Tino's eyes. And even worse had been the resignation in Berwald's eyes, Berwald who had known what they were risking, who had still stepped in, not to protect his master but to protect _me_.

I forced myself to go on, it was only a matter of time until the pursuers would be hot on my tail and I needed to reach Mathias before that happened. He was my only chance to… to what? I didn't even know what to do. I felt a familiar wish for revenge, the urge to drive something sharp through Ivan's smiling face and everyone who had his hands in this but for once I realized how foolish that blind drive was. It wouldn't bring back the dead; it would only put me in even more danger. Like the need to avenge my parents had put Tino in danger.

I had spent so much time with my revenge, I had fought off so much doubt and setbacks, I had stayed on my path against all the odds but all that had kept me going was gone now. I had finally reached a dead end. My parents were dead and even though I had known that nothing I would do could bring them back I had accepted that because I wanted to quench the thirst for revenge in my blood, I wanted to satisfy the lust for blood and I wanted to make the person who killed them suffer as I had suffered. But all of that was worthless if it had cost the life of my best friend. I couldn't go on forever avenging all the friends I lost on the way.

It had all been pointless, and the worst part was I had known that all the time but I had refused to acknowledge the fact because it seemed easier to just go on and ignore the painful truth, that all my efforts had been in vain. I had completely wasted two years of my life and I had caused my best friend's death.

I truly was pathetic.

I finally reached my apartment but to my horror the door was already open and there were fighting noises coming from inside. Mathias could take care of himself, but he had been sleeping when I left and maybe they had surprised him…

I swallowed past the lump of fear in my throat and carefully edged closer to the open door, making double sure that there was no one lurking behind the next corner or something. I peeked inside and to my immense relief I could see Mathias who had cornered a man who looked like a member of the Imperial guard, a few other people lied motionless on the floor and there was an unhealthy amount of blood.

"Don't play games with me." Mathis growled lowly in his throat and grabbed the man by the front of his coat. "What do you want?" He demanded, raising his fist in a threatening gesture. I could see blood on his knuckles and matching bruises on the man's face. The man spat, leaving an ugly red stain on the carpet and there was contempt on his face as he glared at Mathias. "Die monster." His words were punished with a backhand and he spat out what looked like a tooth.

Before I could step in though Mathias' head snapped up and his eyes glowed with a red edge as he eyed the door. He slammed the man's head against the nearby table and stepped over the body (corpse?) of another to get closer to me. I was reluctant to enter the room, I had seen enough death in my time but blood in my home woke painful memories.

The next moment I was pulled into a tight embrace and the smell of blood was overwhelming for a moment before it was replaced with the unique smell of Mathias. "Thank goodness you're safe." Mathias breathed and for a moment I allowed myself to just cling to him, losing myself in the warmth of his arms. But we couldn't afford to waste time like this; if these men were any indication then Ivan would probably send reinforcements as soon as he realized that the first group had failed.

"I pulled back and tried to focus my thoughts. We needed a plan right now, a good one at that and we needed to think of one fast. "They got Tino, Ivan that is and he is allied with the traitors in court." I hastily supplied Mathias with the necessary information, casting worried glances to the still open door that felt like a gaping hole behind me. "We need to warn Yao and then-" My voice faltered, because I simply didn't know what then.

This was close to an open revolt and I heavily doubted that they would stick to the original plan now that things had changed drastically. But would they strike now? Or still wait a while. Well that would most likely depend on my next course of action, I could expose their alliance if they didn't stop me and then they would have no choice but to strike immediately, but if they were able to capture me they still had time.

I could try to leave and hide somewhere but then the Empire would most likely fall in their hands and after all they had done I could no longer tolerate that. For Tino's sake at least I had to keep fighting because he wouldn't have wanted for anything bad to happen for his home country. But still I didn't know what my next course of action should do.

My stay could trigger a revolt which could even lead to a civil war but if I just left they could strike with no one there to stop them. And I had to warn Yao at least or else he wouldn't know what happened. It was a messed up situation and I felt like one wrong step could lead to disaster.

"We need to find a safe place, preferably somewhere in the palace." Mathias had caught on to the situation pretty fast and was now analyzing out next step. Sometimes I really didn't know what to do without him. "They will most likely watch the towers." Mathias went and closed the door while he spoke and I retreated into the main room, mind still reeling and assessing our options. "They won't have enough men for that." I answered but then the dead man on the carpet reminded me of the severity of the situation. "Scratch that." I said and pushed at the body with my foot. "They have the Imperial guard behind them, with that they can probably double watch all the towers."

"That's the question." Mathias checked the reception room one last time before he closed the door to the main room, not paying any mind to the mess he made earlier. "Maybe they only have a small part in their pocket. That would explain why they didn't simply take control and instead stuck to that plan." I 'hm'ed in thought and went into the bedroom, it was time to dress for battle. "They could take over the palace without anyone outside noticing and instate a new Emperor or something. No, they only have the backup of maybe half the guards and that is not enough."

Not that things became any less complicated like that. "We can't trust the guards then." I concluded and quickly started to change into more reliable and comfortable clothing. I also took the rarely used sword belt from the hook on the wall and pulled my even rarer used sword from the rack on the wall. Better safe than sorry.

"Let's get out of here and then decide what to do next. It won't be long until reinforcements will be here." I decided and indicated my head to the window. I wouldn't risk going out the door again, even though I didn't have the luxury to have rooms on the ground floor. But before we could even open the window a bang was heard from outside, indicating that the main door had just been flung open with brute force.

Right.

Just what we needed.

Both Mathias and I froze, only Mathias quickly shook of his daze and moved in front of me without causing any sound. Of course the hope that they simply would go away without checking the other rooms was in vain, but still I couldn't resist the urge to stay as still as a rabbit in the sight of a predator. Stupid panic reactions.

"I know that you're in there." A voice sounded, not Ivan this time but still familiar. It took a moment before I could place it, Arthur. So they really went all out. "Come out and we will not harm you, fight and you will die." Arthur continued and I imagined his voice closer to the door now. "Oh and don't think on fleeing through the window again, we have guards positioned outside, they will shoot you down in no time."

Mathias growled lowly in his throat, the suppressed bloodlust that radiated from him drenched the air and he only waited for my signal to strike, ready to tear apart whoever stood in our way. He could take on whatever waited outside, well most things anyway, the thing that concerned me most was something else though.

"Where is Ivan?" I questioned through the closed door, there was no point in hiding anymore. "Where he's needed." Came the reply and I felt a shiver run down my spine. That couldn't be good. I prepared myself to give Mathias the signal, I wouldn't go down with a fight, my hand tightened around the sword hilt I didn't know I had grasped. Francis was out there but I doubted he was a match for Mathias.

Just as I was about to give the signal Arthur spoke again as if he had somehow sensed what we were about to do.

"We have your friend."

I snorted involuntarily. It should have hurt more, the mention of 'my friend' but the wound was too fresh and the pain to immense to let it in to my heart. "Which friend? The only one I had is dead." I said, and there was not a shiver of emotion in my voice.

"Have you seen him die?"

The question hung in the air, as heavy as lead and for a moment I could not speak. The pure hope that ignited in my heart at Arthur's voice was almost painful because I wished so badly that Tino was still alive, it was truly everything I wanted at the moment. And I wouldn't be able to take it if it turned out to be a false hope.

"Explain." Mathias growled, feeling my discomfort and I could see the tension, albeit initially high, rise even further. My nails dug painfully in my palm and I fought to keep my breath even. It all depended on Arthur's answer and if I believed him. Oh how I wanted to believe him.

"As if we would kill such an important _hostage_." Arthur's voice was even closer to the door now and I could clearly hear the disdain in his words. The way he pronounced the word hostage filled me with a whole other kind of fear. And with this it became obvious what their plan was. They wanted to use Tino against me.

"What about Berwald?" I was afraid of the answer because no matter how valuable Tino was for them, they would never bother with keeping this potential risk alive. Still I had to ask. "The dragon?" Arthur sounded even more disdainful than before, clearly he had more important things to do then to negotiate with terrorists. It was a stark difference to the polite gentleman who had visited me only a few days ago. "What do you think?"

As painful as it was, this was all the answer I needed. I couldn't even begin to imagine the pain Tino must have felt. At least he was still alive…

I unclenched my hands; I didn't need to look to know that there were half moon indents in my palm. The bait was there, I just needed to take it but I was afraid, because once I had accepted the truth there was no turning back with all the dire consequences that came entailed with it. Sometimes it was just better to pretend.

But I couldn't do that. I couldn't abandon Tino just because I was afraid of the road I had to take. Not even if it was only a chance of saving Tino, not even when I knew that Ivan would never let Tino go, no matter what I did because he was too valuable. Not even when I knew that they would most likely kill him anyway, just to make a point, to show me my place.

There was a chance, and I would take it.

I caught Mathias' eye and saw the sympathy in there, no not sympathy, empathy rather. He understood and he would do everything I needed him to do, without question, even if he didn't like it. It was times like these that I was truly glad for him at my side. I wouldn't be able to live through the situation without him.

"Fine." I conceded, the word fell gravely from my lips, a sense of finality penetrating the room. "We surrender." Mathias' tension left him and there was a look in his eyes that I had never seen there before. I had only heard him talking about it. Failure. He took the blame on himself, feeling as if he had failed me and as much as it hurt, there was nothing I could do about it.

"You will neither hurt me nor Mathias, or this agreement is nullified." I added as I watched the door slowly open and Arthur flanked by a few guards stepped in the room. His eyes were cool and all the friendly demeanor I was so used from him completely gone. He looked us over, his eyes lingering at the sword on my hip and then he made a short gesture with his head, casing the guards to step forward and grab both Mathias and my arms.

My initial reflex was to fight back but I resisted and I knew that was even harder for Mathias who just longed to fight and make up for his failure. I wished I could tell him that this wasn't his fault at all, that there had been nothing he could have done, but now was not the right time.

"So, where's Tino?" I demanded but Arthur just gave me a cool look and then nodded again with his head. One of the guards that held Mathias pulled out a syringe and before I could even give out a warning cry he had pushed the needle in Mathias neck and the once so mighty dragon slumped into unconsciousness, not give a chance at all to react.

I tried to struggle, I tried to reach Mathias but I was hold back and so I turned my glower on Arthur. "What have you done?" I growled as the sword was taken from its scabbard and out of my reach. Arthur only shrugged, taking the sword the guard offered him and reaching it back behind him where Francis stood and took it in turn. "He was a risk."

There was no emotion in his voice and I wanted to scream and clawed at my captors suddenly reminded of how helpless I was without Mathias. Then my vision went black as something hard hit me in the back of my head.

They could have used some injection with me, couldn't they?

...


	23. Fever

It should be noted that coming to after having been clubbed on the head is nasty business. It felt a little like a hangover, not that I had much experience with those. My head was killing me, each movement sent explosions of white hot pain through my skull and the light that dug through my eyelids was spearing right through my frontal lobe.

My mouth felt parched dry, as if I had swallowed sand, and only a significant amount of swallowing got rid of that feeling. Still the feeling of thirst remained and I found myself longing for a glass of cool splashing water. My lips were cracked and dry and there was the faint taste of metal on my tongue when I licked my lips and I wondered if maybe some blood had gotten on there.

I tried to shield my eyes against the piercing light with my hands but I couldn't move them and only after a bit of fiddling realized that my hands were kept by firm bounds behind my back. My shoulders ached from the uncomfortable position and I tried to roll around on my side but that only sent a new wave of pain through my head.

The surface I was lying on was not exactly hard but not soft either, it seemed to be some sort of cot, judging by the rustling of sheets and creaking of strained metal when I moved around. The quality of said cot was way under the soft luxuries of beds I was used too and the fact that I had to lie on my arms didn't make it any better.

There was no helping it then. I braced myself against the pain, gritting my teeth and pushed myself up as best as I could with my shoulders. It took more than one try but with some effort and much groaning I managed to roll on my side. I sighed with deep felt relief as the tension in my shoulders eased and even the light had subsided enough for me to open my eyes.

It was about time too. I needed to assess my situation and even more importantly my options. As it turned out my options were limited. I was in a cell of sorts, no dungeon cell but nonetheless a prison cell. The door was heavy wood reinforced with steel; a heavy bar preventing any attempt of escape, the walls were stone with only a small window too high for me to reach. The only furniture beside the cot was a wooden table, a chair and a bucket in one corner, the use of which I didn't want to think too hard on.

My hands were tied behind my back which meant that I wasn't really expected to use any of the furniture besides the cot; still it didn't make much sense to bind me when my chances of escape were so slim to begin with. Not that I could force the door open if I were free and on top of my strength let alone in my current state of headache.

I didn't even know where I was, or why I was wherever I was. They had to have some purpose with me or else they would have simply killed me. A sick feeling settled in my gut. I was still alive, but Mathias most likely wasn't. They had killed Berwald as the obvious threat he was and they wouldn't hesitate a second to do so with Mathias who was even more dangerous. And who knew if Tino was really still alive, it could have all been a lie set up to get to me.

The latent nausea that had lingered in the back of my throat ever since I woke up suddenly roared its head and I had to bite back down the bile that threatened to come up, fueled by the clenching of fear in my stomach. I could be the only one left and I had no way of knowing it. Who knew how long I would have to wait until someone would bother to show up or even if someone would come at all.

My head was pounding and the thoughts whirling through my mind only made it worse. Mathias- The pure thought of him being dead, his empty eyes staring at me out of a lifeless face, was haunting. The possibility of Tino being dead had crippled me, leaving me lost and with an aching heat but it was nothing compared to what I felt now. Breathing hurt, every heartbeat reminded me of the possibility that the heart that was most important me could have been silenced, no was silenced because there was no way they would leave him alive.

Just _being_ hurt.

After a while, when my headache hat subsided enough to not spark white in front of my eyes, I took the time to inspect my prison more closely. It was a bit awkward to move around with my hands tied like that but since I no longer lied on my arms the strain had mostly vanished. Still I felt unbalanced and picked my way carefully on the floor, that was covered with an old faded carpet, thick enough to keep away the cold from the stone.

As I had predicted the window was too far up for me to reach and also too small to be of use. The table and the chair were all heavy wood and even if my hands weren't tied I probably wouldn't have been able to lift the chair, let alone smash it and use the pieces as weapons. I looked under the cot for good measurements but there was nothing there aside from cobwebs and shadows.

I ignored the bucket for now but I feared the moment I had to use it. I only hoped someone would come and untie me before that and hopefully tell me what the fuck was going on. I had managed to keep my emotions in check for most of the time now, I banned every thought of death and dying into the deepest corner of my mind and so far that had allowed me to function. But the void where my pain had been was now slowly filled with anger and frustration, anger at my captors that had left me here and frustration at my inability to do anything.

Exploring the room had given me something to do but when I was finished there was nothing left to distract me. I sat on the cot, shoulders against the wall and tried to focus on breathing evenly. I wanted to smash something, to pound my fists against the door until they were red with blood, I wanted to scream and I wanted to close my hands around someone's throat and just press until all the life was gone.

I was clinging to the faint hope that maybe they didn't kill everyone; I hadn't seen them doing it right? Mathias had still been breathing after the injection so he could be alive. Why would they sedate him when they could have very well injected something lethal? Only that they could have, but Mathias wasn't human, he was a dragon filled with the ancient magic of his kind, no poison would easily kill him.

Again the sight of Mathias dead eyes appeared in front of me and I bit my lips to get the image out of my head. I couldn't go on like this, going from painfully sad to raging anger to careful balanced indifference. I tried to maintain the latter because it hurt the least but it was hard, because on wrong thought plunged me back into the clutches of despair.

It just couldn't be, Mathias couldn't be dead. He was bound to me by contract and before that wasn't fulfilled he wasn't allowed to go. But as much as I tried to, I couldn't' feel the bond that connected us and my mind was too frazzled to send a message anyway. It was hard to breathe with all the different emotions raging inside my chest, maybe it was easier to just let go…

That I didn't feel the bond didn't necessarily mean that Mathias was dead. My head was still throbbing and rash movements still made my vision swim and white stars explode before me, it could be very well the reason for the radio silence. But I wasn't really in the right condition to form rational thoughts, being clubbed in the head had that effect.

It only went downwards from there.

The cool wall in my back seemed to be my only anchor in the darkness of my mind. There was a certain wet feeling as I pressed the back of my head against the wall and I wouldn't be surprised at all if my hands came back bloody if I were to touch the sore spot. Shapes were dancing in front of my eyes and no matter how hard I tried they always stayed out of focus.

I darted out my tongue to moisturize my dry lips, but it felt as if my tongue was made out of sandpaper. The faint taste of blood was back; this time I at least knew why there would be blood on my lips. I prodded against the fresh cut, the indents of my teeth from when I tried to bite back the pain of my emotions.

It hurt, faintly, but I couldn't stop.

The taste of ash in my mouth was disturbing.

Why would I eat ash?

I was thirsty, but the bucket with water was so far away from me, the other side of the room, but it could have been at the end of the world as well. Only that was not water in there, was it?

Part of me realized that a little hit to the head shouldn't be enough to make me this confused, there was something else, a piece of the puzzle missing but it kept avoiding me, dancing in front of me as if to taunt me with my ability to catch it.

How long had I been here before I woke up?

Where was the clarity from before? I had been able to get up and even walk, the thought of moving just a finger was enough now to make my mind dizzy. Maybe I had a concussion. Did concussions do things like that to people? My head hurt just from thinking.

I couldn't escape thinking. I could flee from the pain in my heart, I could block out each numbing emotion but I couldn't get away from the unrelenting work of my brain. Even if it only thought up mush, the effort to function alone was painful. It sure had to be a concussion.

Or maybe they had injected me with some drug to keep me docile that only no kicked in.

Yeah right.

As if that was possible, a timed drug.

Or maybe I was just going crazy. Yeah that would explain it. A god thing though, crazy people had no responsibility, no failure laid on their shoulders, no guilt that ripped apart their gut. How could insanity ever be considered something bad?

I could feel myself smile, a weird sentiment for one in my position. But maybe that was what grief did to people. I was going mad with grief and thus I had to smile about things I couldn't remember for the life of me. Everything was better than to remember why I was here in the first place.

Dead eyes danced in front of me, but they held no substance, no reality.

Memories couldn't hurt people, could they?

My eyes hurt again, the light seemed to have increased and with every throbbing stab of pain my head swell until it felt as if I had a melon propped up between my shoulders. A melon close to bursting. The cool wall was pressing into my head but the coolness was gone, instead there was only agony and then for a brief moment I had the very realistic impression of my skull being split open.

I would have screamed then but my voice was gone, dried out on the desert of my tongue.

Maybe I shouldn't have moved around so much with a possible concussion or maybe I should have lied down instead of pressing an open wound against a hard surface. But how was I supposed to know what to do when left like this? I was not used to being on my own to have to make decisions for myself without having someone to fall back upon.

I knew enough about concussions to realize that I had possibly endangered my recovery by moving and over thinking but that reality had dawned on me late. Mathias would have urged a warning for sure, but Mathias wasn't here and without his reassuring presence behind me I felt lost. As lost as I had felt when my parents had died but I had filled that hole, as soon as they were dead I had gone and find a replacement, because I couldn't stand the loneliness. I had surrendered everything I had to Mathias in hopes he would be able to fill the void and he had and that had been enough.

I couldn't stand the loneliness.

Now even less than before because for two years I had always been, not only in company but in close company. Mathias followed me everywhere; he was closer to me than anyone before; he was part of me. I had forgotten how it was to be alone.

It scared me.

I tried to stop thinking then, because thinking would only make it worse, the pain in my head, the pain in my heart and I was afraid of the truth that laid at the end. But no matter how hard I tried to let my mind rest I couldn't fight off the whirlwind of thoughts that spun through my head. The anxiety of the situation, what happened to those I cared for and that ever present nagging fear in the bottom of my gut that wouldn't let go. I tried to focus on breathing again, inhale, exhale, air in, air out, and it worked. For a while.

There was a soothing amount of nothing in my head, no truths, no lies, no questions and no lack of answers. Just silence and the steady rhythm of my breath, the drum of a heartbeat in the distance. It was like meditating, or what I imagined meditating to be like. The throbbing in my head subsided and the light dimmed again, I almost felt whole again.

I made the mistake of opening my eyes again and just like that reality was back again. The room was as empty as it had been, the walls holding no more answers than the depths of my mind. I blinked a few times, the light wasn't poking holes in my brain and that at least was a good thing.

My shoulders had started aching though, the wall was not the kindest backrest and I couldn't even move to get the blood flowing again. There was a numbness in my limbs that should have worried me but my mind had a hard time processing now.

I felt tired all of a sudden, not only because my body felt exhausted but my thoughts had become sluggish too and thinking, even though no longer hurting, felt like wading through a swamp. The muddy water clinging to every understanding reached, trying to pull it back into the comfort of emptiness.

It was hard to focus my eyes on something, everything blurred at the edges, seemed fuzzy and without substance. I slid down into a sideways position, my legs were awkwardly drawn halfway under my body but there was no strength left to move them. I wasn't even sure if I could _feel_ my legs, the dead weight attached to my body could as well have been a fishtail.

Something stirred inside my mind, a faint worry about the lack of feeling but again I was too tired to comprehend. The only answer my hazy brain supplied was sleep, and honestly I couldn't find the strength to find that verdict even if I had wanted to.

The room went dark or had I closed my eyes? I couldn't tell. I felt my mind slipping and I gave in, hoping with my last conscious thought that the world would be different when I woke up.

How foolish of me.

* * *

**N/A: **Now you see what comes from too much cognitive activity while having a concussion. I doubt I would survive a concussion, because you have to rest your brain in order to recover, meaning no reading, not watching television, no gaming, no _thinking_.


	24. Helpless

I didn't know how long I slept, there was still (or again?) light outside when I woke. It could have been a few hours; it could have been a week. I at least felt as if I had slept for a week, I wasn't exactly refreshed but I felt too awake to fall asleep again. And boy I was hungry.

My mouth also didn't feel like dry parchment anymore but the thirst remained, leaving my lips cracked and sore. The first thing I noticed upon waking however was that my hands were no longer tied. Someone had obviously come in while I was asleep and removed the binds and, to my utter joy, had also left a plate with food and a big pitcher of water on the table.

I pushed myself up with a groan, my shoulders were stiff from the awkward position I had slept in but now at least I could ease the pain by moving. I closed my eyes for a moment, just relishing in the wonderful feeling of joints moving freely. Then I inspected my wrists, they were rubbed red but the skin wasn't broken anywhere, they would be as good as new in a bit.

I threw a longing glance to the table; it seemed to be breakfast judging from the presence of bread, cheese, fruits and even a slab of ham. But if my adventures into the depth of craziness from yesterday (?) or whatever day it had been, were anything to go by, I should better not walk around without making sure my head was fine. But damn that ham looked delicious.

I carefully lifted my hand and prodded a hesitant finger against the sore spot at the back of my head. Instantly pain shot through my skull and I had to press my eyes closed for a moment. I tried again, this time with even more care and after I had felt around enough I dropped my hand, feeling a bit of relief. There hadn't been any blood and I didn't feel an open wound, only a big swollen bruise that hurt like hell when touched.

Still it was likely that I suffered from a concussion, the symptoms were certainly there so it was best to be cautious. But all cautiousness would go to waste if I didn't eat something soon. I made my way over to the table and plopped down on the hard wooden chair, my back complaining at me because of the rough surface it wasn't used to. Beggars couldn't be choosers though so I ignored the pain and instead grabbed the pitcher and drunk directly from it, ignoring the glass set next to it. I was honestly surprised that they trusted me with glass items; it was almost like they wanted me to know that they didn't take me serious.

Well maybe they were right, I wasn't sure myself if I would be able to pull a stunt like that, albeit the thought of stabbing Arthur or Ivan repeatedly with a shard of glass certainly held some attraction. I almost choked on too much water at once, I had to set the pitcher down and cough violently until I no longer felt like my lungs were drowning.

I should probably save on the water anyway, I didn't want o count on my 'hosts' being generous so I shoved the pitcher aside and turned to the food instead. I ate the ham in one big gulp, not even bothering with chewing. While I ate I tried to think my situation through, without actually thinking.

That was of course as stupid as it sounded, but concussion or not I needed to at least assess my options. I was in an unfamiliar place, I could still be in the palace but I might as well have been in another country. There was no saying what my captors wanted with me or why I was even still alive. That they didn't see me as a threat was obvious but being harmless was no reason to keep me alive. They had killed everyone else-

I forced my thoughts away from that topic, rationally thinking I had no proof of their death, they could all be alive, being kept in similar manners than I and I would only weaken myself by reminding me of their possible demise. I could fool myself awake alright but I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to do so as well once it was night. But that was a problem I would face when it came to that.

My brain capacities were limited right now so no use in overexerting myself with pointless worries. It helped that too much worrying made my head hurt so I had more than one incentive to stay focused. I took the remaining fruits from the plate, leaving a bit of cheese and bread for later and returned to sit on the cot. Wrapping the blanket around me to be cushioned against the cool hard stone wall I sat there and munched on apple bits and grapes.

I hoped that soon someone would come and explain to me why the hell I was here, what had happened and what day it was. As much as I feared the harsh truth, it was still better than being left in the dark, even if the news were bad, I wanted to know what happened to Mathias and if Arthur had lied when he said Tino was still alive.

Once I was finished with my breakfast I turned back to meditating, it was not my choice course of action but I still had to be wary about my head condition and I liked to be rather safe than sorry. Calm came easier this time, I soothed myself into a relaxed state, breath even and mind afloat.

My peace was disturbed as I heard sounds in front of my door. A key was pushed into the lock and then turned, the sound was strained as if the lock was broken or something. I sat up on the bed, letting the blankets drop down and eyed the door warily. I briefly wondered if I should dart to the table, smash the pitcher and try to assault whoever was coming with a shard, but I knew that my head would probably explode if I moved that fast. And honestly, I doubted that I would have any success.

The door was pushed open and in stepped Ivan, followed with Arthur and to my mild surprise Alfred. I crossed my arms in front of me; pulling my knees up to my chest in a defensive pose that I knew would look weak but I did it anyway. I could need the comfort. I had wished for someone to come for a long while now, because I wanted to know what was going on but at the same time the thought of it had been terrifying. Who knew what they would do to me.

Ivan locked eyes with me, an amused expression on his face and I pushed my lower lip forward in defiance. I realized that was more like a pouting gesture but at this point I didn't really know what I was doing anymore. My brain was kind of slow working, thinking to hard hurt and I just woke from a session of deep meditating.

They should have sent a memo beforehand.

There was an eerie kind of silence until all three of them had filed into the room and the door was locked again. The room felt crowded and I was glad that I had the relative safety of the cot. Arthur sat down on the chair, looking at the food I had left with a raised eyebrow before a bit of awkward shuffling from Alfred reminded him of my presence.

"Do you know why you are here?" He asked, eyebrow still arched and I couldn't help but feel intimidated from the sheer amount of hair sprouting above his eyes. I snorted. It was an unintentional sound and I quickly stifled it as soon as it was out.

"Because you are douche bags?" I asked, voice dripping with contempt but truly it didn't give away at all what I was feeling. I wanted to yell and scream, I wanted to jump at Arthur and rip his stupid eyebrows out for asking me this stupid question and more than everything I just wanted to be alone.

Alone I could pretend that everything was still fine, that Mathias was just outside, doing some training, moving his wings or something. I could pretend that Tino was on a trip with Berwald and that was why he hadn't come to visit like he would usually do…

I had wanted the truth but now in the face of reality I'd much rather stayed oblivious. Ignorance is bliss or so they say. I had never quite understood that until now.

My hands were clenched under the blanket, I could feel my nails digging deeply into the palms of my hand and the pain was soothing, it kept me grounded. Looking at Ivan was the worst, he just kept smiling, almost kindly and it reminded me all too well about that moment in Tino's rooms, hearing his sickening sweet voice call through the door and the absolute terror in Tino's eyes.

Arthur had been the one to drag me away from Mathias, the one who lured us out with false promises and he had been the one most likely to order Mathias' death. So I kept my eyes on Alfred, on his thick brown jacket, because I couldn't stand the look of pity in his eyes.  
I wanted them all to just go away.

Arthur sighed. "Don't be difficult, we can be civil about this." I slammed my hand down on the cot, it would have been more effective with the table and not obscured by the blanket but at least the metal gave away a soft screech in reproach. "I am difficult?" I ground out between clenched teeth, my rage was boiling up and I wanted nothing more than to close my hands around Arthur's pale neck. "You dishonored our agreement and killed Ma- everyone and now you expect me to just be calm about it?"

I had risen up into a half crouching position, blanket askew and hands braced on the cot's edge. Ready to pounce but as soon as I had moved Ivan had brought his bulky form between me and the other two, still smiling but threatening nevertheless.

"I haven't dishonored our agreement and I haven't killed anyone." Arthur growled, I could see red on his necks, stemming from anger most likely. Alfred fidgeted with the hem of the shirt that poked out from under his jacket. I stopped short of what I was about to say and just gape for a few seconds, like a fish on dry land. "What?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed. "I'm a man of my word. We sedated Mathias because he is a threat, but I promised I wouldn't hurt you, and I didn't." I looked dumbly for another minute or so, Ivan deemed me harmless apparently and moved back again. "Oh." I just said, probably the most intelligent thing I had said all day.

"He's fine." Alfred spoke for the first time, and at least the pity was gone from his eyes. "Just cranky, but who wouldn't after the dose they gave him." I flexed my hands in search for something to say, but the throbbing of my head supplied the answer.

"You hurt me." I said, calmly and while I was still trying to understand what had just been said the realization slowly dawned on me. Mathias was alive.

Mathias

was

alive.

"That was regrettable but inevitable." Arthur shrugged, seeming not at all sorry about the big hurting bruise on my head. But I no longer cared. I felt tears prick at my eyes and the almost irresistible tug of a smile on my lips. But I forced myself to stay calm and not give away the turmoil in my chest.

"You're here obviously because we still have a need for you. Else we would have shipped you somewhere where you can no longer trouble us." Ivan picked up the conversation after I had been silent for a while. He seemed to be impatient and wanted to be finished as soon as possible.

"What did you do to Tino?" I asked, ignoring what he previously said. I bore my eyes into his, trying to look as menacing as possible. The hope that Tino was alive too had been rekindled and was burning steadier and steadier and I just hoped-

"He's alive for now but his execution is already scheduled." Ivan said it so casually as if he was talking about the weather and my blood run cold instantly. "What do you mean?" It was more a snarl than actual speaking.

"Well we can't let a traitor live, can we?" He asked and the way he was raising his eyebrows was ever so taunting as if he was dangling a piece if raw meat in front of an injured lion. "He's not a traitor." I ground out between clenched teeth. "You are." Ivan smiled, not just smiled, his face almost split in too and he was beaming as if what I had said somehow was exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Well we can't have the people think that, can we?" My hand twitched and I once again felt the urge to throttle the life out of Ivan, the way he seemed to communicate solely with rhetorical questions was driving me mad. "So you want to sacrifice Tino as a scapegoat?" I asked, my eyes flicking to Arthur and then to Alfred who couldn't meet my gaze. That was answer enough. I was fuming.

How dared they?

Tino was _innocent._ He was probably the most innocent person in the whole fucking palace and they just wanted to execute him as part of their stupid plan? I felt sick to my stomach for ever considering helping them. As if on cue my head started throbbing again, reminding me that my cognitive functions were impaired and that getting angry would probably resolve in some nasty brain melting.

Fucking perfect.

"We didn't plan this in case you think that. But when you proved to become _difficult_, we figured that was the best course of action." I glared at Arthur, and the way he pronounced difficult, as if he had to bite into a sour fruit, was making me positively livid. Or would have if my skull hadn't started pounding with a headache. "We would have chosen you for that but I gave you my word so I can't lay a finger on you." He shrugged as if it was only a minor setback, nothing to break a sweat over.

Fuck this all.

I tried to gather my thoughts enough to reply but everything just slipped through my conscience as if it were water poured through a sieve. The ache in my head intensified; making my eyes water and I had to bite my lip, again, to keep from crying out in pain. The faint taste of blood invaded my taste buds but the salty flavor stayed only for a split second before it as washed away with the taste of bile at the back of my throat.

I realized somewhere in the screaming agony that my head had become that Arthur was talking. I tried to focus on the moving of his lips, tried to grasp at the meaning of the words that tumbled randomly through my mind, knowing somehow that it was important that I needed to listen but my focus was completely gone.

I was half aware of hands on my head, uncomfortably warm hands that seemed to try and push the pain back into my skull and only when there were other hands clawing at them did I realize that it had been my own. Something pushed against me, pushed me down on the cot and there was something cool pressed against my lips, no forced between my lips and then there was liquid, cool soothing liquid with a bitter after taste and I swallowed and the world went black.

The last coherent thought surfacing to my conscience was a short pinch of panic that I couldn't waste time with sleeping. I couldn't remember however why that was.

...


	25. Crack

When I woke up this time I had a surprisingly clear mind. Surprisingly, considered that the last times I had woken with a certain fuzziness in my brain. That didn't make waking up any more pleasant though. Because I could remember pretty clearly what happened before I had been knocked out with whatever drug they slipped me.

I had gotten a few answers, and even though I was relieved beyond measurement that Mathias was still alive, really the realization needed some time to really sink in; I still had to worry about my fate. And that of Tino of course. And there exactly lied the problem. I was pretty much helpless right now.

Not to mention that there was a revolution/rebellion about to break loose and since I didn't even know what day it actually was my chances of preventing any of those to happen were pretty much zero. But I couldn't let those thoughts pull me down any further. I had screwed up enough already; I would never be able to forgive myself if I let Tino die.

I fought down the sick feeling that clenched in my stomach. Ivan's face surfaced to my mind when he had informed me of what they had planned for Tino. The way he said it made my stomach churn with unbridled anger and I had to clench my hands and force my breath to even to calm down again.

I only wished I'd known what day it was and how much time I had left. What if I had slept for a few days and Tino's execution was already over? I forced the arising panic down and tried to focus. That couldn't be, if I had slept for days I would have felt like I had been crushed by a dragon or something, but from the way I felt I had probably only slept a few hours. But still, Ivan hadn't specified _when _the execution would be.

I pushed myself up from the cot and started pacing through the small room. I needed a plan, as soon as possible. Or at least some general idea about what to do, and seeing that I was lacking both, I probably should my brain get to work. The only upside was that my head seemed to have calmed down, no hellish headache erupted as I tried to wrack my brain for ideas. The lump on the back of my head had decreased significantly and I overall felt better. At least physically.

I went to the door and tried to push but the form wood wouldn't budge, no matter how hard I pushed or pulled. There was no handle and I figured that it could only be opened from the outside. I knelt down to inspect the lock only to find that there was a small metal plate fastened in front of ot. So even if they had left me my hair pin I wouldn't have been able to pick that lock.

I cursed under my breath and felt weirdly relieved after that. I wasn't so much the curser, I preferred clean language but it had something satisfying to just let it out for once. Maybe I should start cursing more regularly. I stood up again and tried to shove the table to the wall where the window was. After mentally slapping myself for bothering with the heavy wooden monster I went and pushed the chair under the window instead.

My brain didn't seem to function as well as I would have liked it. There was no way I would fit through that tiny hole but at least I would get some idea on where in the palace I was or what time of day it was. I climbed on the chair and peeked outside. I didn't know what exactly I expected, the sight of the city stretching out in front of me maybe, but whatever it was it had certainly not been this. There was a vast green field outside, the shadow of a forest in the distance and no sign of civilization whatsoever.

And I was pretty far above the ground.

I sat down on the chair and just gaped for a few seconds at the empty room. I had no idea where I was. The only thing I could gather was that I definitely wasn't in the capital, or anything near it for that matter, and that it was most likely afternoon.

Needless to say that made my situation about a hundred percent worse. Even if I, by a stroke of luck or something; were able to escape my prison cell I still would be stuck in the middle of nowhere. I didn't know if Mathias or Tino were held at the same place.

I just wanted to bash my head against the nearest wall. It was so frustrating, there was nothing I could do and all the while there were people out there depending on my help. It was almost tragically ironic; ever since my parents had died I had tried to detach myself as much as possible from my peers. I had shunned my best friend, I had refused any close human contact, except for Mathias who strictly speaking wasn't even human, all this because I feared to hat it would weaken me.

And now here I was, wracking my brain for a plan, an idea, _anything_ to protect the people I thought I wouldn't care about. I grew more and more agitated with each passing second. I wanted, I _needed_ to do something, idly sitting around wouldn't help my friends. I had already went through the pain of losing family members, I had went through the pain of thinking I had lost my best friend and my lover too and I would be damned if I allowed that to happen in reality.

I stood and wrapped my hands firmly around the back rest of the chair. It took some effort but I was able to lift it over my head. For a moment I just stood there, arms shaking with the weight I wasn't used too but then with a grit of teeth I smashed the chair down against the heavy wooden table. The sound of splintering wood was deeply satisfying. The table was mostly unscathed but the chair was pretty much broken.

Only two broken pieces of wood remained from what used to be the backrest, the legs were a mass of splintered wood and the seat had a crack through it. I set the two pieces down on the bed for later use, one of them had a perfect shaped sharp broken end that I wouldn't mind burying in either Ivan's or Arthur's chest. The thought of that was almost as satisfying as the smashing of the chair had been.

I cleared the debris from the table and then pushed the table over until it lied on the side. I didn't really know if that would be of any use but I felt destructive and figured why not. I shoved the makeshift barrier close to the door so that it could be opened only halfway. I settled down next to the door, leaning against the wall, my new weapon in hand and started to listen for someone approaching.

Someone had to have heard the earlier noise, and whoever would come to check on me was in for a nasty surprise. But nothing happened. No steps drew closer, no key scratched against the lock. Was it possible that no one had heard the noise? This tower or what it was, was pretty high so there had to be many rooms and floors. But what if there was no one here? What if they had just left me here to rot and die, as a way to not physically harm me but getting rid of me nevertheless?

I tried to reason that they wouldn't have bothered talking to me if that was their plan but I couldn't quite quell my fears. The sound of the smashing chair had been pretty loud, someone must have heard. Still, the outside world remained silent.

The rage I had felt vanished as quickly as it had come and left me with a feeling of emptiness. My hand that held the piece of the backrest grew heavy and I had to lower my arm. Why hadn't anyone come? I dropped my weapon down to the floor and groaned in frustration. This was pointless.

I kicked the destroyed chair for good measurement, and flopped down on the bed. It had been a long shot I had known that but still it had felt so good to finally do something and I even had the hope that it would help my situation. At this point anything would have been welcome, but nothing happened.

I shoved the other chair piece from the bed and lied down on my back. Now that the anger was gone I realized just how hungry I was. I didn't know how long I had slept before so I didn't know how long it had been since the last time I ate. It felt like an eternity though. What Mathias would say if I starved to death inside a tower somewhere in no man's land? I didn't need much imagination to know that _that_ wouldn't end well.

The thought of Mathias should hurt more, the thought of me dying should be more frightening, but all I felt was numbness. I didn't even realize it until I felt the touch on my chest that I had raised my hand and pushed it under my shirt to where Mathias' claw marks were. It had been a constant companion throughout the last two years, always there in the back of my mind but it had never really registered before. Technically I couldn't die, at least from natural causes. I wouldn't age as long as Mathias' magic was active, but I had no idea if I could starve.

I traced each scar one after another with my finger, thinking of the moment I got them. The feeling of Mathias' deep inside of me and his fingers digging into my skin. Would I see him again? Would I even know it when he died? Would the mark disappear if he died? Would I _feel_ it? Again I didn't feel the pain I should be feeling, instead the emptiness just seemed to grow until it swallowed up my heart.

My stomach growled but I didn't pay attention. For all I knew I couldn't even starve. Why had I never thought of asking Mathias those things?

Because I had never thought it was important. Because I had never imagined to be separated from Mathias. I sat up to lean against the wall again, pulling my knees close to my chest. It felt reassuring to have every part of my body so close to my center. It felt safe as if Mathias was holding me. I closed my eyes and tried to pretend that the arms around my legs were his and not mine. It didn't work.

It was hard in a way. I had been born into a wealthy family, I had been fed power from the day I had left my mother's womb, but the power had always been derived from my status, my family and the meaning our name held. The power had never come from my own hands. Even when I had inherited the family's name, my power had only been borrowed. My word held only meaning because Mathias' power was behind it.

Alone, I was useless.

I was pulled out of my depressing reverie by a sound that I had long since given up hoping to hear. Footsteps. I was up instantly, grabbing my discarded weapon and scrambling to my spot besides the door. I was far from silent but I didn't have the time for stealth, the key was already in the lock when I reached the door. The visitor had come too abruptly for me to be worried or afraid; I needed all my energy to focus on the right timing. I didn't worry about what I would do if there were more than one person outside.

The door was pushed open slowly and I raised the piece of wood over my head, gritting my teeth and counting the seconds. The table constricted the door and a silhouette appeared in the opening, trying to force the door open with his body. I didn't hesitate; this was my one and only chance.

I brought the piece down, aiming right into the gap between door and wall. A moment before impact I locked eyes with the person. I jerked the chair piece in the last second to the side, glancing a strike to the shoulder instead of the head, but I couldn't do anything to take the force back from the blow.

Mathias groaned and sagged to the side, face twisted into a painful grimace. I tossed my weapon away and pushed at the table frantically until I had moved it out of the way. "Mathias." He had stumbled back against the wall of the corridor, hand clenching at the injured part but still he tried to force a smile. "That was a good one baby." He sounded strained, and my guilty feeling about hitting him doubled.

"Mathias what are you doing here?" I gave up trying to get my hands on Mathias' shoulder, I would probably make it worse anyway. "Rescuing you of course." Mathias stood up again and pushed down the collar of his shirt to inspect the injury. A big purplish blue bruise had already formed , but at least the bone seemed to be fine. "It seems you can take care of yourself."

I smiled weakly and carefully wrapped my arms around Mathias. It just felt so good to touch him again. "Well I tried my best." I ran my hand up along Mathias' side over his uninjured shoulder to rest on his neck. For a moment we just looked at each other, caught in the moment of our reunion and then I couldn't hold back any longer I pulled him in into a kiss, to assure myself that this was real, and not just a concussion-induced dream.

Mathias winced slightly when I bumped against his shoulder but he didn't hesitate to put his arms around me and pull me as close as possible. "I thought you were dead." I whispered as we finally parted. Even though Arthur had told me, there had always been that tiny shred of doubt that he was lying.

"I would never die and leave you behind." Mathias cupped my face in his hands and gave me a thorough look over as if to make sure that I was really fine. "How did you escape?" I asked, my hand tugging helplessly at Mathias' sleeve. I felt a bit lightheaded and still couldn't quite grasp that this situation was truly real. I wouldn't be able to handle it if it would turn out to be a dream.

Mathias grinned, it was a devious grin with a tinge of cruelty. "Let's just say I didn't agree with my accommodations." Part of me wanted to ask for more details, but the mean glint in Mathias' eyes told me otherwise. Only now did I notice the subtle traces of a struggle on Mathias. Aside from the bruise on his shoulder there were scratches on his underarms and, his shirt had a few tears and there were tiny specks of blood on his sleeves.

Maybe I was really better off not knowing.

Anyway, we couldn't waste any more time in staying here. We needed to catch up with whatever had happened in the outside world, and more importantly, safe Tino. Mathias seemed to have read my mind as he got up threw a glance into my room. He wrinkled his nose at the room, I wasn't sure however if it was because of the destroyed chair or the small space. Mathias retrieved the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around my shoulders. I didn't need to ask to understand the gesture, it would be cold up in the air, despite the built in heater that was Mathias' stomach.

They had taken my shoes and I was only wearing light clothes. "I killed two of them but they were small fry, left here to guard us." I followed after him as he walked down the corridor, eying every turn with care to make sure we didn't run into a nasty surprise. "Their clothes are in shreds unfortunately." Mathias stated with a frightening calm in his voice. As if he were talking about the weather.

"Where are the others?" Better to focus on the easier things. "I don't know, but I guess they left to take care of more important business." So I had been right, partially. Arthur had left us here to probably rot forever while he and his men staged a rebellion.

"Is Tino here?" We had reached the stairs and now made our way down. "I haven't checked all the rooms, but in he wasn't in those I entered, but I can't smell him anywhere. I stopped, somewhere between two stories, causing Mathias to also halt his steps. "We need to check." I said, fingers twitching on the handrail attached to the wall. It was unlikely that Tino was here when Mathias couldn't smell his scent, but it was not impossible.

I remembered the look in Berwald's eyes when he stepped out of the door to put his life on the line to safe me. I remembered the terror in Tino's eyes as he heard Ivan's voice. I owed him to make extra sure that he wasn't here. "Are you sure we have the time?" Mathias questioned as I was about to turn around and head back up.

I opened my mouth to answer with a simple 'yes, of course we had time to safe Tino', but before I could say it I realized what he truly meant. "What day is it?" I stood half turned on the stairs, one foot on the next higher step, hand hanging somewhere above the rail and eyes locked on the man beneath me.

"Five days."

The number hung heavy in the air, a leaden weight on my hand until I dropped it down to my side. Mathias' senses worked differently than those of a human, when he said it had been five days then it definitely was like that. The ambassador would visit in three days, three days time left for Tino before he would be executed. He would be the scapegoat, the one the murder of the Emperor would be blamed on.

"Where are we?" My fist clenched and unclenched, a helpless gesture. "I don't know exactly but at least on day's worth of flight from the capital. If I were uninjured that is. Now it will take more than a day." That would leave less than two days to stop the rebellion, if they stuck to the plan anyway. And somehow I doubted they would do that, I had warned the Emperor already, so with or without me, he knew what was going to happen. I would bet my life on it that they would strike at another time, most likely before the ambassador's visit.

Which meant that we had less than two days to warn the Emperor of a strike we didn't know when it would happen. And more importantly we had less than two days worth of time to prepare for an attack that we could not predict.

It wouldn't take long to find Tino if he were here, but when time was of essence this could be life deciding.

"I…" Since the wardens were dead there would be no one to execute Tino, but also no one to feed him and bring him water. I couldn't just abandon, but I also couldn't just leave the Emperor to his fate. Not after it had become personal.

"I don't know." I finally said.

...


	26. Cold Sky

Had it been the right choice?

I couldn't tell, but I had made my decision and now was no turning back. I tried to console myself that Tino would have understood, that he would have done the same in my situation. He would have put the wellbeing of the country before his own life. I only wished I could have believed it.

Ember's heat was a solid comfort under my trembling fingers but even his presence failed to ease my worries. The beating of his wings was unsteady, his right shoulder couldn't keep up with the left shoulder and he was constantly drifting to the right. He didn't show it but I knew he was exhausted, breaking out of his prison cell couldn't have been easy. He was aware of how dire the situation was however, so he hid his weariness and I acted as if I didn't notice.

The wind was billowing and biting in every piece of exposed skin but I barely noticed it. I had the blanket from my room wrapped around me, my hands clenched into fists at the front. There were tears in my eyes but I couldn't tell if it was from the wind or from the pain in my chest.

I felt like I had abandoned Tino. The farther away we flew the more doubts appeared. The tower had not been that big, we could have spent at least a little time searching it. For all I knew he could have been right behind the next door.

Ember swerved as a heavy gust of wind threw his balance off and I almost slid from his back. I had been so deep in thought that I forgot to hold on to his neck shield like I usually did. I managed to dig my fingers between his back scales but I lost the blanket in the process. Ember steadied his flight again and a quick feeling of worry washed over me. I tried to assure him that I was fine but I could barely assure myself but still he accepted it.

I cowered down behind the neck shield, trying to get as much of my body close to the heat that was Ember, but the wind was blowing heavier and heavier taking with it the life giving warmth. The magical field that had kept the worst of the wind away was gone with the pillars that I had removed only a few days ago. Unfortunately the spikes of the neck shield weren't circulated by blood, meaning they were as cold as their surrounding temperature. If I stayed like this any longer I would eventually freeze to death. I had put on Mathias' set of clothes too but they were as bare thread as mine and not nearly as long enough to cover everything.

But we couldn't waste time to land and find clothes, I had abandoned the chance of saving Tino because of that very fact and I couldn't just waste time with my own wellbeing, not when I readily sacrificed Tino's. I grit my teeth and tried to lie down on Ember's back but his flight was too unsteady and I couldn't hold on to anything while lying down. So I formed a tight ball pressed flush against the neck shield, absorbing as much heat into my core as possible.

I would probably lose a finger, a toe or even a limb like this but I needed to keep my core temperature above the point when it would kill me. I owed it to Tino to do as much as this at least. I should have said something, I should have alerted Ember to the situation but I stayed silent. And Ember who was too busy with coordinating his wings to pay much attention to what was going on his back. As long as he felt my weight everything was fine.

The wind was harsh and soon I lost feeling in my toes, as much as I tried to keep them under my body. I took turns holding onto Ember's neck shield with one hand and repeatedly flexing the other to keep the blood circulation going but that helped only so much. And as I was slowly losing the feeling in my hands too I realized the tremendous flaw in my reasoning. I might have been okay with losing a digit to the cold if it would get us to the capital in time (no matter how foolish that actually was) but I had failed to take into account that with frozen fingers I wouldn't be able to hold on to Ember. I almost screamed with frustration but at this point I had lost too much energy to even do that.

It was a miracle in itself that I was able to realize my mistake at all, considering that I had been suffering from the effects of hypothermia for quite a while now. Or maybe the height was getting to me. I had never suffered from altitude sickness before no matter how high Ember rose, but now I felt lightheaded on top of cold. It seemed the force field between the pillars had not only protected from the wind.

But everything had been fine a few days ago when we went to fly, on the day before everything went downhill. I had been informed of the risks of altitude sickness too, because it was possible for dragons to rise way above the clouds but with humans on their back they usually wouldn't. And I doubted that we were flying this high right now, no it had to be something else. Maybe I was still suffering from that concussion, if it ever was one.

It didn't matter really, we had to go down and that was that.

I weakly prodded Ember's mind, my body felt like it was already frozen, some parts were numb while others seemed to be on fire with frost burn. Weirdly enough the parts of my body that were directly adjacent to Ember's scales felt almost comfortably warm.

Ember roared and instantly dropped a few meters the moment he realized my condition. It was half out of anger and half out of worry and suddenly the temperature in his body seemed to increase by tenfold.

He dove down with steady beats of his wings, the bruised pain temporarily forgotten as he desperately searched for a landing point, a place to shelter me. I felt guilty. I had been trained for situations like this, it had been drilled into my head to never, under no circumstances fly without proper protection but I had ignored all the warnings. I could have avoided this but in my hurry to get to the capital and away from the guilt and doubts that was the uncertainty of Tino's situation I had forgone the necessary procedures. I could have, no I should have taken the time to find equipment to protect against the cold and some food too if possible.

Searching for provisions would never have taken up the time I would now need to recover. And I could have searched for Tino.

I couldn't say if it was luck or misfortune but there was a small city underneath us. It wouldn't do to just find a cave or something. It was no problem to get a fire started with Mathias there, but a fire was not enough. I would need blankets and a lot of time, or maybe a warm bath, but too much heat at once was almost as dangerous as doing nothing.

I only hoped we would find someone who would help us, I had nothing of value with me to pay them after all and nothing to prove my identity with. But there was not much else we could do.

The landing was rocky, both because of his injury and because Ember was in a haste to get me down. I almost fell down but at this point my hands were so stiff that I simply couldn't let go of the spike I had been holding on to. Ember didn't wait with transformation until I had dismounted, that would have taken far too long. So instead he transformed with me on his back and I could actually feel the bones and muscles shift under his skin. It was a weird sensation and I tried to slip from his shrinking back but I couldn't move fast enough. The transformation was as rocky as the landing, Ember couldn't move his wing properly so it only folded half over his body and when the limb finally changed forms, it looked pretty painful.

It was strange how my mind focused on these small details in favor of ignoring all the other major things like the complete absence of feeling in my left foot. The ground I was lying on shrunk and was gone only a moment later. I fell but it felt weirdly like floating and then I was suddenly in warm arms, pressed against a body that was both too hot and too cold for my liking.

I wrapped my arms around the familiar chest, but I hadn't had the strength left to really hold on, my fingers scraped ineffectively over skin and soon I had to drop them again. My eyes kept losing focus and my vision was blurring black at the edges. I felt a light vertigo once Mathias started walking, the sky was moving past his head and I had to close my eyes as to not fall ill with nausea.

I tried to move my legs but I felt nothing aside from a sharp tingling pain in my calves and so I gave up again. I mentally slapped myself for the stupidity that had let us into this situation. I truly was useless. It wouldn't matter so much if only my life was at stake but I had more on my shoulders than just that. Tino was in lethal danger because of me, Berwald was most likely dead and Yao who counted on me would soon fall to the hands of the rebellion.

Since when had I started to care so much?

No, that was the wrong question. I had always cared, I never had stopped. I simply had denied the sentiment in the hopes of getting rid of it. In vain. I felt my consciousness slip, I tried to open my eyes but my lids were too heavy.

The next time I opened them there was no sky above me, no one was carrying me, instead I was lying on a soft surface and was covered in something warm. But the most prominent feeling was the excruciating pain in my feet. It was as if someone had set them on fire. I tried to get up to see what was going on but something was pushing me down. I thrashed wildly, arms flailing but I couldn't get away, not from the pain and not from whatever was holding me down.

There was a voice, grating at my oversensitive nerves and I tried to block it out but it kept bugging me. "Lukas, calm down." The voice commanded and then there was a weight on my chest, not a heavy one but a comforting and more importantly, a familiar one. Something warm brushed against my cheek and then there was a hand on my face, a soothing presence that promised that everything would be fine.

The pain was still overwhelming and now even seemed to spread to my hands but by then my mind was functioning enough to understand what was going on. The blood was coaxed back into my feet and with that came the pain. As painful as it was it also meant that I wouldn't lose a body part. At least judging by the fact that even my toes were on fire.

I didn't know how long I was lying there, the only thing that was constant was the pain, like fire at first but then subsiding to the prickling of a thousand needles. At some point I realized that there were hands, massaging the feeling back into my legs but since Mathias' hand was still in my cheek I didn't know whose it were.

I was too groggy to move my head much so I just rested after Mathias had pulled it in his lap, one hand on my cheek the other rubbing one of my hand. The room was mostly silent, except for the rustling of sheets and an occasional encouraging word from Mathias. At first I had felt cold, even with all the blankets and Mathias heat, but as time went on I began to feel uncomfortably hot.

It was a strange feeling, my body was burning but there was still that lingering feeling of cold in my toes and feet. I tried to shove the blankets from my torsos but my strength was still lacking and Mathias' pulled them back up every time I managed to move them. "It's alright Lukas, you'll be fine." Mathias hand on my face was getting uncomfortable too, but I enjoyed the closeness too much to complain.

"It's hot." I said weakly, I could feel sweat beading on my body and the covers had a sticky feeling to them. Thankfully Mathias lifted the blankets up to get a bit of fresh air underneath. I sighed and closed my eyes again, the prickling sensation was almost gone now and my feet started to feel comfortably warm again. I closed my fingers around Mathias' hand to still his movements and was content to just lie there and relax.

"I'll leave you two alone for a while." The unknown person said with a kind voice that sounded a bit girly, before the apparent she got up and left. I was too lazy to open my eyes and look at her, I supposed there was time for that later.

Mathias' hand wandered from my cheek into my hair and combed through the strands, the ball of his thumb rubbing gentle circles in my scalp. "Where are we?" I asked. There was a short silence before Mathias finally said: "Safe."

It was not the answer to my question but for now I was satisfied. That wouldn't last long though, I had been too preoccupied with pain and analyzing my immediate situation to spend much of a thought on the overall situation, but slowly reality sunk back in. I was tempted to just ignore the rising worry, to just lie there, let Mathias caress me and forget about all my troubles. But I was not the kind of person who could just do that, I had a responsibility.

"How long?" I opened my eyes again to look at Mathias. His hand stilled in my hair and he blinked two times before he answered. "Not long, a few hours." I sighed, not sure if I should be relieved or troubled. We couldn't really afford to waste a few hours but at the same time I had been lucky to take only a few hours to recover. It could have been far worse.

"We need to go." I said. It was a statement, one that didn't demand approval but anticipated it. There was another short pause when Mathias just watched me, eyes guarded but then his expression opened up and a soft smile appeared on his lips. It was a heavy smile, burdened with knowledge and conviction. Mathias, just as much as I, just wanted to stay here for a while.

"I'll go ask Vash and Lily for clothes you can wear." Mathias made to slide from under my head but he hesitated when he saw my questioning glance. "They are the people who helped us." He explained as he carefully lowered my head down on the pillows. "We got lucky, they seem to be friends with Lord Beilschmidt."

"What?" I pushed myself up, taking a moment to fight the arising dizziness from moving too fast but focusing all my attention on Mathias. "What is the status in the capital, do they know?" I moved to stand up but then realized that I was naked under the covers. Mathias who was about to open the door paused and sighed.

"The situation is normal, they hadn't had contact to Lord Beilschmidt in a while but if anything drastic happened they'd know." I wrapped a blanket around myself to be at least minimal decent. "Can they send him a message? Get an update?" I took my first step and almost fell flat on my face as my legs gave way under my weight. I managed to grab the bedpost in the last second.

Mathias attempted to help me but I waved him away. "We need to contact Ludwig, we need a heads up on the situation before we rush into a trap. And get me some clothes." I yelled after Mathias as he stepped through the door. I carefully tried to put weight on my right feet and this time it didn't give way. I wriggled my toes to test the feeling before I gingerly took a step forward and then another one, letting go of the bedpost.

I sure must have made a sight, wobbling awkwardly around, clutching a blanket to my chest that was wrapped around me, but step after step I felt more surefooted until finally I could walk steady again. Right on time too, the door flung open and a young man with blond hair and- damn was he short- an expression as if he had just had lemons for breakfast. He carried a pile of clothes and a pair of boots which he dropped unceremoniously on the bed with a disgruntled 'here', before he left again. That must have been Vash.

I waited until the door was closed before I unfolded the clothes and started changing. The fabric was scratchy and seemed to be poor quality but they were clothes and they would do their job. That was all I could ask for. Right as I was pulling the shirt over my head the door opened again and a woman entered. She had the same hair style as the other, only with a bow added to give her a more feminine appearance. She was startled for a second for seeing me half naked but she gathered herself quickly enough.

"Dinner is ready, you should come eat something." She announced and smiled kindly. I recognized that voice as the person who had massaged my feet. She must have been Lily. I was about to protest but she cut in before I could get anything out. "Vash is going to send a message to Ludwig, until the answer arrives there is enough time to eat something." With that she was gone again, leaving behind the faint smell of alpine flowers. I had no choice but to follow her and hope for the best.

...


	27. Communication

It turned out that Vash owned a specialized device for long distance communication, a sort of metal tube in which he spoke and then moved it to his ear to listen to it. A tinny sounding voice answered him and I realized only after a few sentences that it was Ludwig's. Vash asked a few pointed questions and Ludwig quickly relayed the situation in the capital to him. As it seemed everything was fine on the surface but Ludwig was worried.

The visit of Ambassador Sadiq Adnan was imminent and because of that security measurements had been tightened. The servants were in a flurry all day, sweeping the floors, preparing rooms and generally tidying up the place, this was a big deal apparently and the Emperor wanted to make a good impression.

I remembered what Matthew had told me, that Sadik was on the rebel's side but from what Ludwig explained I gathered that he was still skeptical. Yao intended to convince him that _he_ wanted to stop the war and that the rebels were a bigger threat to his country if they succeeded. It was hard to belief, from how Matthew had sounded it had been a sure thing that the ambassador was on their side but like so many things it obviously had been a lie to fool me.

But what Ludwig worried the most was the load of people hat had arrived over the past few days. Many nobles returned to grace the palace with their presence after a long absence, visitors from other countries came to see what happened and with them came servants and guards and a lot of people Ludwig didn't know and made guarding Yao exceptionally hard.

Everyone was nervous and rightly so.

Ludwig had gathered some intel, apparently he had some connections and a lose spy network of his own. Yao had instructed him to support me, so after a forcibly short instruction from Vash on how to use the 'telephonator' I was allowed to hold the device to talk to Ludwig.

"I have someone following Lord Kirkland but I suspect he noticed something because my agent keeps running into dead ends. But before that he was able to gather the following: Lord Kirkland frequently goes to meetings with Lord Honda, the personal advisor of Emperor Yao, I don't know what they're talking about but from what my other agents uncovered I assume that it has to do something with the ambassador's visit."

It was difficult to understand Ludwig at times, there was constant static in the background and sometimes his voice just cut off for a second.

"According to Lord van Bock they have an arrangement with one of Lord Adnan's man, if the Emperor falls the Golden Archipelago will grant support in the war against the federation. We are not sure how he wants to do that, he would have to bypass the ambassador and as far as I know the Archipelago hasn't expressed any intention to get involved into the war, but the ruler is corrupt and can be manipulated rather easily."

Mathias who had been listening to the conversation growled under his breath. Somehow this situation was familiar. Matthew had told me a story and now I was presented with another version of that same story. Only this time I had already decided whom to believe.

"What about the ambassador?" I asked, but I forgot to switch the piece to my mouth and so Ludwig carried on without hearing me. "We don't know when they'll strike but we have to protect the Emperor at all costs. But unfortunately it won't do to simply prevent his death, we also have to find everyone involved in the rebellion. The Emperor wants to negotiate a trading route with ambassador Adnan, which hopefully will convince the other countries that we are interested in peace. The White Isles are willing to act as negotiators between the Empire and the Federation but only if we show an honest effort. But the Golden Archipelago won't accept a treaty if the situation in the government is unclear. We need to end this rebellion."

A silence followed and I realized that Ludwig was waiting for my reply.

"Do we know everyone who is part of it?" I asked, this time remembering to move the device to my mouth. I still couldn't comprehend how this simple metal thing could convey speech through a cable connected to a wall. But considering that Mathias could relay mental images in dragon form or that mages could talk with their minds over hundreds of miles distance it maybe wasn't that extraordinary.

And unlike magic it couldn't be intercepted. At least that was what Vash told me. But it was terribly impracticable. I heard some whispering and strained to understand until I noticed that I had again forgotten to move the device. I apologized into it, asking Ludwig to repeat himself before I switched it to my ear. Ludwig cleared his throat, slightly annoyed and repeated: "Mostly, but once the head is snuffed out the rest will either show or run away."

I nodded, too lazy to move the device again just to give affirmation. This thing was getting really tedious. "That is where you two come in." Ludwig continued, not bothered at all by my lack of reply. "I will be guarding the Emperor, Roderich will keep an eye out too so we will handle everyone that dares an attack. You have to take care of those who stay hidden. I trust you can do that?"

I switched again to say 'yes' but there was something else that bothered me. I should have asked that before but I was afraid of the answer. "What about Tino, have you heard anything?" I switched again to listen. There was a shuffle in the background, but with all the static it was hard to tell if it was real or just an artifact in the sound transmission. Ludwig said something, muffled and then there was another voice answering.

"Last thing we heard was that he was visiting his parents for a vacation, at least that's the official version." The other voice spoke again, louder this time and albeit I couldn't make out the words I could clearly hear the urgency behind. "What's the unofficial version?" I asked, a dry feeling constricting my throat.

There was silence again, only disturbed by the constant whooshing of static. I suddenly imagined Ludwig opening his mouth to say something but before he could get something out he was interrupted by the other person. "Gilbert what-" There was a short struggle on the other end before Gilbert apparently had snatched the device from Ludwig.

"Listen kiddo, we don't have much time." Gilbert more yelled than spoke, I didn't know if it was from urgency or if he simply didn't know that the telephonator worked with normal voices too. "Tino has disappeared from the radars and rumor has it that he is dead but I'm pretty sure that's not true. Berwald however- no Ludwig this is important- anyway Berwald is a totally different story."

There was something in Gilbert's voice that sparked hope. I had so much as guessed that Tino was still alive, he was to be executed as a scapegoat after all but the way Gilbert had talked about Berwald… Despite of what he said I couldn't help but hope that maybe, just maybe Berwald was alive too.

"I don't know where they keep him but Tino is somewhere in the capital, I smelled a trace of him just yesterday in old North tower. It was days old but one way, meaning he got in but not out. That can mean nothing but I'd bet my life on it that he's still alive and in there, yet."

It was hard to describe what was going on right now in my heart. I felt a mad surge of relief, relief that I had done the right thing and that Tino was still alive, but at the same time I felt desperate again, the North tower was long abandoned, there was no use for it anymore after it was banished into the shadows of the proud dragon spires poking into the sky. But it was still defensible, a few guards, no one guard would be enough to hold the entrance and it would take a small army to break through. An army or a very, very desperate man with his dragon.

"But listen, Tino is one thing the other thing that got me worried is Berwald. I know he is supposedly dead but believe me, they couldn't just off a dragon without anyone noticing. Even in human form and Berwald is a beast unlike any other, it would have taken a whole shitload of magic or something of the likes to kill him."

I wanted to say something, remembering the small injection it had taken to take out Mathias, but of course he was right. Sedating a dragon was one thing, killing a whole other thing. Dragons retook their original form upon death, so even if they had snuffed him out in his sleep, which was pretty hard in its own way, someone would have noticed the giant dragon corpse appearing all of a sudden.

It was still no guarantee, if they were crafty they could think of more than one way to solve that problem but Gilbert wouldn't waste my time if that were likely.

"I'm sure he is alive, but not for long. They keep him in the dungeons most likely. You have to save him, do you hear me? I would do it myself but I'm kind of preoccupied." I moved my hand down to my mouth to speak into the device that seemed to swallow my words and distort them into some metal beast that didn't sound like me at all. "Why?" I asked, voice shaking and the faint burn of tears in my eyes. I didn't need to explain what I meant, the sharp intake of breath on the other hand told me that Gilbert understood. It was strange almost, how this device was able to relay such insignificant sounds as clear as a day while it struggled with something as simple as a voice.

I half expected Gilbert to tell me off, that we didn't have time for long explanations but instead he said: "Because in a way, we dragons are similar to you humans. Without the sky surrounding us we get lonely, and lonely people need friends, don't they?" I opened my mouth to say something but the words died on my tongue. What could I say to that?

He was different than Mathias, only a shadow of the old and mighty dragon race, magic dampened and tainted by human influence. As much as he pretended to be a loner, as much as he acted as if Ludwig was the only company he needed, in truth he was lonely. A true dragon could suffice on his own, driven by the wish for dominance over the sky, fighting every other member of his species that dared to threaten his supremacy, but Gilbert was no true dragon.

His tone hadn't been blaming or anything but still I felt guilty all of a sudden. My species had enslaved dragons for their own benefits without a regard to what it did to them. The true dragons had gone extinct already, and as further away from their roots a generation was the more likely it was that they came out infertile. And still Gilbert was willing to support us, willing to lay his fate into me to save what most likely was his only friend beside the man who owned him. Maybe the true monsters weren't the dragons.

Gilbert's voice pulled me out of my thoughts again, it now had an almost pleading edge to it. "I know this is a lot to ask but please safe him." I almost choked. I was unable to speak for a moment but then there was a hand on my shoulder, a warm hand that seemed to pull me back down to the ground. "Of course." I said into the device, there was so much more I wanted to say but the words would be hollow in front of the mountain of guilt that weighed down on humanity.

Even with Mathias at my side I had never considered what other dragons felt and thought. It kind of came with Mathias' attitude too, he looked down on the lesser member of his species, but I had never bothered to ask why. Now as I gazed upon the sympathetic and almost pained look in his eyes I realized that I had assumed the wrong reason all along. Despite of what he said of his ancestors he must have been lonely too. The only one of his kind amidst a plethora of his brethren who were all bound by spells and weak blood.

No wonder he had distanced himself.

"Thank you." Gilbert's voice rang into the silence of the room, he had stopped yelling but it was still loud against the sadness in my chest. I should be the one thanking him, for giving me both hope and a chance. But the moment passed and then it was Ludwig again, checking the last details and counting of the names of those who were our enemies. I was relieved in a way that I could return to business just like that, the short conversation with Gilbert had thrown me off the rail and I had to struggle to fit back in.

At least I was doing something to end this war, and without a war there was no need to enslave dragons for fighting purposes. It was sad how I never once before spared a thought about this, but now I couldn't understand how I was ever able to miss the obvious. I had simply gotten too used to the sights of spell bound dragons that I had forgotten the pain that stood behind every curse.

After we were finished, Vash demanded the device back and shooed Mathias and me out of the room, right into the arms of Lily who had waited for us only to drag us to dinner. I was torn between staying and eating the admittedly delicious food or departing and head to the capital. But I hadn't eaten anything for a long time and both Mathias and I needed the nutrition. Lily had taken a look at Mathias' shoulder and put some salve on the swell but it was still painful.

The day after tomorrow the ambassador was estimated to arrive and in the evening there would be a grand ball to welcome him. It was the perfect opportunity, a room full of nobles and servants, security was only tight on the outside, making sure no commoners or people without invitation could enter but no one would dare to body search nobility.

And they would have all the important persons on one spot, if anyone acted up they could deal with it right there. Many of the visiting nobles had brought guards with them but those would have to stay in the barracks with the palace guards. Ludwig hadn't said anything but at least part of the Imperial guards had to be on the traitors' side, if not all of them. Yao had a few personal guards who were fiercely loyal and Ludwig had the army behind him but the former were too few and the latter too far away to be of any use.

That didn't mean we were defenseless however, I feared more and more that the dragons would be the deciding factor in the game. One decently skilled dragon could take out a small unprepared army, but on the other hand if said army was prepared and had the help of at least one sorcerer on their side the tables could easily turn. But the few sorcerers that resided in the capital worked for money and nothing else, most of them weren't interested in what they called 'earthly quarrels'.

And even if they had managed to pull a sorcerer on their side, Mathias was unbound and wouldn't be tamed easily, especially when he was prepared for magical attacks.

Ludwig had given me a crude overview of who would be where during the ball and where the most likely positions for an attack were. But we still lacked a plan. I still needed to save Tino and Berwald, while at the same time disguising our presence, since it was our greatest asset that the enemy didn't know we were free. It would be foolish though to believe that it would stay that way until the ball. Our only hope was that they didn't expect us to be there, but even that was only a thin hope.

It would be easy to enter, Yao had our invitation at the ready but that would give our presence away. No, we had to sneak in, disguised as someone else, maybe some foreign Lord or some baron who lived far away with little land. And Mathias would simply have to become my brother or something. Foreigners and small time nobles didn't own dragons.

And then we would have to keep an eye out, as far as I knew everyone on my kill list was invited but the question was, would they all come? And of course we could be wrong and they could strike later or even earlier. Negotiations would start the next day under really tight security but Yao didn't have a good excuse to keep his entire personal staff away so chances were that a traitor would be present.

And as much as I just wanted to walk in on them and kill them, I couldn't just do that. It would shed a bad light on both me and the Emperor if we went around and dealt justice without a proper trial. There was simply not enough time to gather enough evidence to blame everyone involved. And I still needed to figure out how to save my friends.

The door opened again and Vash entered with a scowl etched on his face. Lily smiled and got up to fetch him a plate and Vash sat down with a heavy sigh. "I'll come with you." He said with a matter of fact voice and reached for a piece of bread from the basket in the middle of the table. I was about to deny it but the look on Vash's face stopped me. It wouldn't be that bad to have reinforcements, would it?

"Can you fight?" I asked, throwing a glance to Mathias. He would have to carry additional weight with an injured shoulder, if he couldn't do it there was no way Vash would come with us. Lily re-entered and placed a plate in front of Vash before sitting down again. Vash chuckled drily and stabbed his meat with a fork. I took the liberty to interpret that as a yes and set on finishing my meal.

"We leave at sunset." Vash stated and I simply nodded. I wasn't yet decided if I liked being ordered around or if I preferred to be in charge myself.

...


	28. Night

**A/N: **Hello everyone! I'd like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support. It helps me a lot to read your reviews and see that you like what I'm writing. Oh and I fixed all the errors with save and safe in the last chapters (At least I hope I did o.O). I love all of you and thank you again for your support 3.

Anyway,I have decided to pick up Prism and write independent short stories for it. If anyone of you has some ideas and/or prompts you want to read about, just let me know via PM or review and I'll see whatI can do. I have a few small ideas but I'm always open to your suggestions.

* * *

I used to like night flights, it is a unique feeling to fly underneath a cover of stars and it has something strangely peaceful. Even if the sky is obscured by clouds and everything is dark it has something calming to glide through darkness. At least I felt that way. I liked how everything that was between me and certain death was this one strong and warm body that flew tirelessly through the night. On my first nightly flight I had felt uncomfortable and scared of being dropped down at any second but since then I had developed a deep rooting trust into my partner. He would never let me fall and that gave me the confidence I needed.

But that was different on this night. It wasn't even that dark of a night, the sky was only partly covered with clouds, the moon was almost full and a few stars were already making their appearance. Both Vash and I were packed into thick layers of clothing and we had a set of ropes that secured us to Ember's back, just in case.

That didn't help against the strong gales of wind however and Ember's flight was still unsteady. It was one thing to suddenly drop a few meters in midflight when it was broad daylight but every time Ember had to correct the misgivings of his injured wing my heart threatened to stop.

Whatever Lily had done to his shoulder had helped temporarily but the effect was gone in dragon form. Mathias wouldn't suffer long from the injury, dragons healed rather fast but that still would take a while. I only hoped it wouldn't impair his battle skills.

To be completely honest it wasn't just the unsteady flight that set me on edge, no, I was nervous because of what laid ahead. Vash had sketched out a rough battle plan but there were still too many uncertainties. I had fought on battlefields before, but then the situation had always been clear. There was no question who the enemies were, there was no doubt on what was right or wrong.

But this was different. Our enemies were not nameless Federation soldiers, they were part of my own people, people I had trusted and called comrades in arms. It came back unbidden, the image of Matthew and Alfred sitting on the sofa in their hideout, the amicable way Matthew had chatted, offering us snacks and a smile. It was so hard to believe that these people were our enemies, that they wanted to push this Empire into ruin.

The same went for Arthur, I had always respected him, he had been so calm and level headed all the time, being the voice of reason in our meetings. Yet he had plotted our downfall at the same time. I thought of the documents I found in the abandoned village where I first picked up the trace. I wasn't an expert concerning accounting but those numbers had seemed accurate. They hadn't had any intention of ending the war, so did they forge them? Or did they just plant them there to get me some incentive to join them?"

I hated this feeling of uncertainty, when deceive could hide behind every corner and turn of my path. I even had a hard time trusting my allies at times. But I couldn't afford to distrust them, I could only watch my own back for so many enemies, if I had to look out for my allies too I would go crazy with paranoia in no time.

Vash was a quiet travel partner, he had brought out a whole ensemble of weapons with him, now all strapped to Ember's tail in a bag, except for one rifle that he clutched to his chest like it was his baby. I had contemplated on asking him about it but the way Vash kept glaring at nothing that convinced me not to.

I tried to sleep but the wind was too strong and even our thick clothing didn't protect us entirely from the cold. At least the ropes made sure that we couldn't fall from Ember's back.

The flight seemed to take forever yet at the same time was over far too soon. The capital was a bright source of light in the distance, the dragon towers stood as illuminated spires reaching up into the darkness. It was an eerie foreboding sight, the city was almost dark compared to the light that emanated from the palace, but even there the dragon towers cast deep shadows.

But the most unusual sight were the giant flood lamps that were pointed at the sky. Maybe it was a precautionary installment to prevent any attacks from above , maybe it was just cautiousness but I couldn't help the feeling that maybe they were there for us. We hadn't planned on directly landing on one of the towers, chances were someone spotted Ember's silhouette against the starry sky but with all the search lights we would have to land farther away from the capital than I would have liked.

But it couldn't be helped. Secrecy was our best weapon at the moment.

We found a more or less good landing place in the shadow of one of the big oversaw the edges of the city. They were the oldest, built in the early days outside of the city in an attempt to separate the dragons from the population but the city had eventually caught up and built around them. And it didn't go well with the nobles to have to travel through the city slums to reach the towers and so they had been abandoned. They still stood as testimony for the Emperor's power to impress every outsider who paid a visit to the capital for the first time.

It was still rather close to the city's center but he outer districts were poor and barely lit at night. Which didn't make them anymore safe. It hadn't been always bad, before the war the Empire had strived with wealth, but that wealth soon led to arrogance and in arrogance laid their downfall. Now there was no money left and the rift between the rich and the poor was gaping wider and wider. Crime had taken root and sprouted like a deadly plant and every day it was inching closer and closer to the center of the city. The city guards could barely contain it and with no money in the Empire's register they weren't even willing to try anymore.

But they could use that to their advantage. The security was tight around the palace grounds but the manpower had been pulled from the city guards, thus leaving the city to its own devices. It was dangerous but at least the city's scum wouldn't care about their identity, only about the riches in their pockets, which were none at this point and Vash's rifle would deter anyone foolish enough to try. Hopefully.

It was sometime in the early morning hours, the sun was still hours away from rising but the stars were already vanishing from sight. Most people would be asleep, well most normal people would be, but some parts of the city never slept.

Vash secured the area while Ember was transforming and subsequently dressing, then we both armed ourselves with weapons from Vash's impressive collection. I had never been good with guns, swords were my forte but it would have to make do. Guns were still considered poor game by most nobles and the Empire had not enough money to arm every foot soldier so most still relied on bladed weapons. But they brought a certain advantage to a battle and I was not about to deny that advantage.

I only hoped it didn't blow into my face. At least I had received some basic training, Mathias had completely missed the development of the weapon and when he first witnessed its effect he had almost jumped out of his skin. I couldn't blame him, my first gunshot had almost blown my eardrums out.

"We should get going." Vash returned from his lookout position, taking the bag from Mathias and slinging it over his back. "It's best if we stick to the side alleys, but keep an eye out, those alles tend to be infested with muggers." Vash checked his rifle one last time before he turned around and disappeared into the darkness again. I exchanged a quick glance with Mathias and then followed Vash. We had landed outside the city limits but the transition was fluid, one moment there was only mud on the ground and the next there were dirty corrugated iron sheets functioning as makeshift houses.

Dark eyes followed their advance but these were the sick and the outcast, even among the poor. The unwanted whose life had already a set expiring date, they were too weak and too afraid to do stop us. But the scenery changed quickly, houses got bigger and sturdier, now made from wood, mostly rotten, but still. And with the scenery changed the people. The tangy smell of human waste and rotten food penetrated the air and I really didn't want to know in what I stepped my boots in. There was a sewer system underneath the system, but the tunnels were often clogged and the manholes overflew with wastewater.

People took more interest in us and I saw more than one knife blink in the darkness of moonlight. But so far the guns seemed to work as deterrence. Vash led us in an alleyway the moment one popped up, readying his rifle for any sort of trouble. I heard shuffling in the dark and instantly inched closer to Mathias. It could have been rats but well, I wouldn't be surprised if it would be something else.

I had lived in the capital for quite a while now and even though I had been vaguely aware of the condition of the poorer districts I had never seen it for myself. It was such a pretty sight from above that I had never wasted a thought about reality. But the warm brown and grey color mush was in reality the dirt and misery of the city's lowest, and down here there was also the smell that was inescapable. I felt close to throwing up more than once but I forced the bile back every time. It wouldn't make any difference, the ground was already soiled but I couldn't give in to this weakness.

There was a wet gurgling sound somewhere before us and suddenly Vash jumped backwards, almost colliding with Mathias behind him. "What the-" Mathias voice cut off as he saw what had startled Vash and he was right in front of me the next moment, shielding me from whatever sight it was. Vash aimed his rifle, shouting at someone to show himself. Something splashed, but Vash didn't even flinch as mud landed on his clothes. A figure stepped out of the shadows, a knife in his hands and the red on his hands and the knife was unmistakably blood.

I couldn't see much past Mathias and Vash but there was a dark form lying on the ground. Here and there were bits of red shining in the moonlight. The form was twitching and only when the gurgling sound stopped did the movement stop. I felt sick to my stomach. "Just doin' my business. Like you." The man said, an oily grin on his face. He had his hands halfway raised but held on to the knife and the grin on his face didn't betray any fear.

"We're not interested in your business." Vash spat, "now move along." The man made a mocking half bow, still grinning. "'t'was a pleasure dealing with you sirs." He indicated his head towards Mathias and me and with that he was gone. "Let's go." Vash commanded and I was pulled along by Mathias who stayed between me and the body on the ground. Part of me wanted to look, but I already felt nauseous so I forced myself to keep my eyes ahead.

Thankfully that was the only shady encounter that night. Not counting a pair of prostitutes that tried to convince Vash to show them how his 'rifle' worked. Judging from how red Vash's neck was he either was inclined to accept their offer or shoot them. I wasn't too sure which I would have preferred.

We continued on our way and soon left the poor district behind us. The trading district lied between us and the palace, and even though the condition of this part of the city was much better than the one we had just came from the people here were just as likely to cut our throats for our purses than the ones in the poor district had. Only they would be more subtle about it.

But no one bothered us on our way. We kept to the alleyways but everyone we encountered quickly decided that three men armed with guns weren't worth the risk. I noticed a few greedy eyes on said weapons though. The rich district was separated by the river that flowed through the city, well to call it a river was an overstatement. It used to be a river but by now so many people had branched off bits of the stream to water their gardens or power generators that it was merely that, a shallow stream. It was kept comparably clean in these parts of the city, but further down it was brimming with dirt and waste and there were sections where the water was standing in stinking brown pools.

The sewers were also maintained regularly in these parts, so the streets were only dirty with road dust. The bridge that crossed over the river was guarded, even with the city guards occupied otherwise the rich had their own guards assuring their safety. The palace was in the middle of the rich district, but it could very well be at the end of the world. Technically we could gain entry by using our identities, if we could prove it that was, but that would blow our cover.

Vash seemed to have an answer for everything however. He led us past the bridge, out of sight of the two guards posted there and to a manhole in a dank side alley. "You got to be kidding." Mathias exclaimed once he realized Vash's intention. "We're not going down there." I had smelled what came out of those sewers, I had no intention to go down in one either. But Vash only shrugged. "Then stay here."

He hooked a finger in one of the cover's hole and shoved it off to the side. "This tunnel has no connection to the actual sewers; therefore it is both clean and safe. And it is our only way inside the palace." Vash explained as he was strapping his rifle to his back and pulled out a small hand light. I was quite impressed, electrical light was common in houses, at least in houses whose owners could afford it, but portable lights were new.

"So are you coming or what?" Vash asked before he stuck the flicked on the light and stuck it between his teeth. I guess we have no choice." I said to Mathias and watched as Vash disappeared into the sewers-not-so-much-sewers. "You first, I make sure no one follows us." Mathias stepped to the mouth of the alleyway to look outside. The light gradually disappeared and I hurried over to look down the shaft. The walls seemed clean and there was no smell that indicated wastewater. There was really not much of a choice.

There were handholds at one side of the wall and once I heard the thump of Vash dropping down (thankfully no splashing of water) I made to climb down too. As soon as my body was in the shaft it blocked out most of the light coming from beneath and once my head was under there was only the slightly brighter circle of the starless sky above me.

I had to feel around with my feet to find the next hold and more than once I aimed too low and stuffed my toe in the attempt to find the next one. After a while Mathias' head appeared in the circle above me, and he called out to me. "You're almost there Lukas." I couldn't make out his features but his words were enough.

And then my foot hit a flat surface and I let go of the handholds with a deep felt sigh. Now there was light again as my body no longer blocked it. Vash was waiting at one end of the small circular room at the entrance to one of three tunnels, holding out the light for me to gather my bearings. I stepped back to give Mathias' room. There was the sound of sliding stone against stone heard as Mathias closed the cover and then he climbed down much quicker than I had, despite his injury.

He dropped down the last meter and landed almost soundlessly on the ground. His eyes had a red hue to them in Vash's flashlight and from his stance I could tell that he was drawing on his animal instincts. It was the most he could so down here, since he couldn't possibly transform in the narrow space, but it would be enough.

Vash nodded approvingly and waited until Mathias had passed him before he gave me the light and took up the rear up himself. At another time I surely would get tired of all these efforts to always protect me but right now my mind was too absorbed in other things.

"Where do these tunnels lead to?" I asked after the silence had gone on for too long, aside from Vash's occasional giving of directions when we reached an intersection or came past side tunnels.. There had been three of them, after all. "This one leads to a secret room in the palace; the other two are decoys that lead to dead ends after a lot of twists and turns." Vash explained. "It's the same with these side tunnels, they lead you in endless circles until you are completely lost."

"And this all exists next to the sewers?" I asked incredulously. To squeeze in an extra tunnel was easy I supposed but a network of this size was impressive. "To be accurate we are under the sewers, not next to them. You should be careful there are leaks sometimes." That was still rather impressive. "This was constructed as a secret escape for the Emperor in times of danger but since the main entrance at the palace was closed off from one paranoid fellow it is no longer in use by the Imperials. But there have been other entrances on both sides, kept secrets from the Emperor. We are currently using one of them. Actually the main part, the by far biggest part is no longer usable due to breakthroughs of sewage water and tunnel collapses but the smaller tunnels are kept in shape by Ludwig's family. Exactly for cases like this."

Okay, really, _really_ impressive.

"Who built them?" I got more and more curious about these tunnels. "I don't know." Vash answered. "I guess some sorcery had to have been involved but history doesn't tell." Mathias turned around halfway to add in to the conversation. "Whoever built this was most likely killed by those who wanted it built. That's how these things usually go."

And with that silence fell over us once more.

...


	29. Battle Plan

I tried to find a pattern in how Vash decided which way to go and which not. I tried to find some kind of sign that marked the correct path, but I couldn't find anything. Still Vash seemed to be perfectly able to find the right way, and that was enough for me. I only hoped I wouldn't need to find my way back through here without a guide, I would be lost in seconds.

At first it had been easy to keep track, only a few branches and intersections but the closer we came to the palace the more branched the tunnel became. Intersections were made of up to five tunnels by now and as we advanced Vash pointed out a few that lead to other secret entrance points in and around the palace.

"How do you know all this?" I finally asked when we changed into another tunnel that was branching of diagonally from ours. "How do you know which way to go?" At first Vash didn't seem to have heard my question, but then he turned his head just slightly to look at me.

"Ludwig and I spent years on mapping this thing."

"You two are childhood friends?" Mathias asked from the back.

"Kind of. More like our parents liked to put us together with that Edelstein brat and ever since then we have been partners in crime. Or something to that effect." Vash shrugged and turned his head around again as we approached the next intersection. "This is the last one, at the end of this tunnel lays the exit point."

I sighed with relief. I could walk relatively comfortably in the tunnels, unlike Mathias who had to keep his head low most of the time. But still the tunnels were narrow and the air was sticky, and after being down here for this long I craved a fresh breath of air. The others must have felt the same, because once we were in that last tunnel Vash strides became more hurried and even Mathias seemed to be more impatient.

We reached the end of the tunnel and there was some sort of wooden panel that would have fooled me for a dead end weren't it for Vash who opened a hidden peephole to check the area outside. "Perfect." He whispered and pushed somewhere to the side. I had expected it at this point but it still was impressive to see the panel slide to the side and give way to another dusty tunnel. Okay the sliding was impressive, the dusty tunnel wasn't so much.

"What the-?" I couldn't quite hide my disappointment, I seriously had enough of tunnels. "Vash shot me an annoyed glance and strapped his rifle on his back again. "We're still below ground and this tunnel is part of the palace' own underground tunnel system, that is used by servants, well was used but anyways." And indeed the tunnel was different from the one we had just emerged from. The walls were covered in wooden panels, and we had just stepped through one of them.

Vash headed to the right and lead us up a rather steep slope that soon ended into a spiral staircase behind a door. Several other doors went off from platforms on different levels but Vash almost led us to the top of the stairs to another inconspicuous door that led into an empty room that I recognized as a seldom used recreation room that was part of most noble's quarters. I had a similar one, even less frequently used. Vash closed the door behind us, then slipped open another smaller panel and revealed a tiny bell. He rang the bell in what could have been a random sequence but the way Vash's face was focused I figured it was deliberate.

"It's to let the owner of the rooms know that a servant or in this time an ally has arrived. You wouldn't believe how many servants have been killed or injured because their master thought they were intruders." Vash explained as he set the bell back in its place and closed the panel.

It was close to terrifying to think how much secrets in this palace its residents had no clue of. There could be a secret door like this in my recreational room, or rather there was most likely a secret door like this in my rec room, the hell I had that exact small panel in my rec room, with the bell behind it much likely.

I should stop thinking about it, it gave me a headache.

Thankfully the door opened (the normal door not the secret one) and in came a ruffled looking Ludwig who didn't seem pleased at all about the intrusion. Or maybe this was just his usual look after waking up. But it sure was strange to see his usual meticulously slicked back hair hanging in his face, it gave him a whole different appearance.

"Well that was quick." Ludwig said dryly and gestured for us to follow him out of the room and into the main room. His rooms had an almost identical built as mine, but aside from that it had a whole different touch to it. "I didn't expect you until noon at least. The main room had the luxury of windows to the outside and from the light that poured in I judged that it was sometime in the early morning.

"We didn't want to waste any time so we risked a night flight." Vash nodded towards Mathias and sat down in one of the chair Ludwig offered. "So how is the situation?"

"Unchanged." Ludwig sat down across Vash after both Mathias and I had settled down. "We still are pretty much in the dark about the when and where but we have pinned down the who pretty well. Eduard's cover has been compromised, they haven't yet figured out that he is a traitor but they suspect it. So he can't provide us with the necessary information anymore. We have to keep our eyes open and hope for the best." Ludwig grimaced as if 'hoping for the best' was nothing he liked to have to say.

"Wonderful." Vash muttered, right as the bedroom swung open and Gilbert entered. Unlike Ludwig he was groomed and primly dressed, only his hair was in its usual mess. His face lit up as he saw us and only a stern look from Ludwig prevented him from greeting us with a hug. Vash on the other hand didn't seem too pleased to see Gilbert. "Gilbert." He said with a forced note to his voice.

"Zwingli." Gilbert answered, looking as if he had just bitten into a lemon. "Should have locked the doggie door." Gilbert muttered under his breath, earning him a sharp look from Ludwig and a barely impressed eye roll from Vash.

"That's enough." Ludwig said with finality and both fell silent. "We have more urgent matters, and no time for petty feuds."

"Lord Bondevik, you should stay hidden until the ambassador arrives. I have an unused room that you-"

"No." Gilbert's voice was sharp and not only Ludwig looked surprised as he spoke. "You should go and find Berwald, if you wait until the feast he will definitely be dead, but right now he might still be alive." And then almost as if an afterthought he added: "You promised."

Ludwig looked angry and about to lash out at Gilbert but then he caught the other's eyes and his expression softened ever so slightly. He still looked pissed but he stayed silent. Vash looked amused for some unknown reason.

"I'm not saying you should blow your cover, just save him. They are too busy to bother with watching the pits all day, now is your chance. And you can go and save Tino too." To hear Gilbert over the telefonator had been hard, but to now see him, hope and despair clearly intermingled in his eyes was almost too much to bear. I had felt bad about Berwald but I hadn't spared so much of a thought about him being still alive and that just maybe we could save him. And I had felt mostly bad on behalf of Tino.

But I would save him and I would save Tino. I owed it to them and I would make sure that they didn't pay for their help with their lives. And then I would make sure that the rebellion was stopped and this country would finally come to peace. It was the least I could do.

It was weird to think how I had started out, seeking revenge and now all I cared about was peace. It was the right thing to do however. And knowing that I was fighting not for myself but for others, for people I cared about and even those I didn't, was a good feeling. It felt better than fighting for revenge ever had.

But first we had to get there.

"Are you sure Berwald is in the pit?" I asked.

"Most likely. I don't know for sure though."

"You have this day to try and find him, tomorrow the ambassador will arrive and then security will be too tight for an ant to move unnoticed. According to Eduard Tino will be executed shortly before the coup, as to present him as the culprit afterwards. You can't question the dead, so he won't be able to contradict them." It was unsettling in a way to listen to Ludwig, his voice didn't betray any emotions, even when he talked about Tino's fate. But then again this was not the right time for emotions. We needed to keep a clear head.

"But timing is of the essence. The dragon pits are closed during the celebrations so if we make sure to get Berwald out before that we can make sure that word doesn't get out afterwards. But you will have to find their inside man and silence him or else he could alert the others. I will send someone to bring you in, the guards at the entrance are advised to let no one pass but I know a few secret ways." Yeah I had noticed.

"I can't allow you to go and rescue Tino today unfortunately, it would be too soon and then we would lose our only advantage." Ludwig stood up abruptly and walked over to a cabinet at the far wall. "But we can use that to our advantage." He filed through the contents of the cabinet, before he finally found what he was looking for. He closed the cabinet again and returned to his chair.

" We still don't know for sure when the coup is. We can just guess." I pointed out. Ludwig laid the key he had retrieved on the table and pushed it over to me.

"Yes, but if the coup isn't during the feast we'll have to blow our cover anyway, we will have to do something before negotiations start. If that happens we are planning on exposing the traitor on Sadik's side. It will be a messy affair and will probably spoil our negotiations but as long as it will bring an end to this rebellion. But it is the Emperor's wish that no more innocents get caught in the crossfire."

"So all we can do is hope that they strike as planned." Gilbert added. "We will give you a list of the people who are part of the rebellion so that you know for whom to look out. It is not necessary to kill all of them, in fact it would be better to leave some of them alive so that they can confess. But you should take out the heads." I nodded and tried not to think about the fact that we were talking about killing like we would talk about the weather.

"Vash will enter the North tower disguised as a guard and make sure to get Tino out before he can get executed. I know you want to go in yourselves, but you have to trust Vash with this." Ludwig nodded once towards his friend, who didn't seem too thrilled about the idea but returned the nod nevertheless. "The North tower will be guarded pretty well, by both loyalists and rebels so if you came too close you would blow your cover."

I didn't like the prospect of letting someone else handle Tino's rescue, but Vash was capable and Ludwig was right.

"Do we know anything about the location of the rebels?" I asked, already playing through plans in my head. It would be nice if they were all in one place but I figured that wouldn't be the case. It would be too easy.

"Most of them will be at the party, you just need to lure them out and off them, one after another." Ludwig supplied, toying with the key in his hands, I wondered why he had taken it out in the first place. "But a few will be positioned in strategic places to oversee the coup. We don't know where those places will be but I can take an educated guess." He gestured towards Gilbert who got up and vanished into another room.

"I'll map them out for you." Gilbert returned with a map depicting the palace grounds and rolled it out flat on the table. "The feast will take place here." He pointed out the central dining hall, adjacent to the kitchens. "Most of the guards will be there, I tried to manipulate the watch schedules so that only loyal guards will be there but there are not enough to cover the entire area. Lord Kirkland is invited, he and his dragon will be seated here, close to the Emperor as befits his rank." Another tap on the map. I wasn't even surprised at this point that Ludwig memorized the entire seating order and could locate them on a map.

"The Imperial court will be seated around the Emperor. Lord Kiku is the leader of the rebel part, he sits right next to the Emperor. Unfortunately weren't able to seat him elsewhere, he is too influential and can just change the seating order back to his liking. Lady Mei is his second hand and sits to his other side. Lord Soo is fiercely loyal to the Emperor, but his usual seat on his right side is taken up by the ambassador this time. Lord Kaoru, the Emperor's personal assistant is not exactly loyal but I know for sure he will stay neutral."

My head was swimming at this point. But even more than that it made me feel sick with the knowledge that these were the people who plotted my parents' dead. And all this time they had just been there, whispering their poison into Yao's ear, going unpunished for god knew what other crimes. I was glad that it was about to end.

"At least two or three other will most likely be also in the great hall, close to the entries to make sure no one can escape." He circled the positions of the doors with his finger, then pointed towards the positions at the table closest to said doors. "The tricky part will be the ambassador. I know for sure that he is not interested in supporting our war efforts so they will have to bypass him. His word might however still hold enough value with his king that he can foil their plans by telling him what had transpired so they have to make sure that he can't tell. That means either killing him or luring him out so that he doesn't see what happens."

"We have to protect him at all costs, his life is almost as valuable as the Emperor's." I concluded, tapping my finger against the smooth table surface. "I guess you will make sure that nothing happens to them?" I asked, glancing over to Ludwig.

"Yes, together with Roderich. He's in on the plan. I think we can also count on Lord Carriedo, he's clueless most of the time, but he knows what's right." I nodded and returned my attention to the map.

"Where are the other strategic points?" I asked and followed Ludwig's finger as he explained the spots and their value. "There were more spots than rebels, which would make things complicated but I had at least an idea where to look. "Where is their man on the ambassador's site seated?" I asked when he was done and I listened again as he explained that I would have to guess for his identity since we didn't know which of Sadik's men was the traitor.

"It won't suffice to just stop them." Vash said after he had stayed silent for the entire conversation. "If we just kill them, the blood will be on our hands and no one will believe us. The Emperor's words will be compromised too. We have to catch them in the act." Ludwig nodded gravely.

"So we have only a thin window of operation, we have to make sure no one gets hurt while leaving no room for doubts at the same time."

"Well that affects us, but I advise that you two," Vash indicated both Mathias and I with his head. "you make sure that the right people get hurt. How's your shoulder?" He turned his attention to Mathias.

"Better." He shrugged, but I knew him long enough to notice the slight hints of pain in his pose. It still hurt but he wouldn't let himself be impaired by the injury. I only hoped that it wouldn't trip him in some other way. It was after all still a liability. At least we wouldn't have to fly.

It was far from the well thought through plan I would have liked but it was a plan. One I could work with.

"Here, that is the master key for the lower levels. With that you can open Berwald's cell. I trust Vash to be expert enough with lock picking to run in such troubles." Ludwig handed me over the key. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if Ludwig had a magical unicorn up his sleeve.

"I'll prepare a disguise for you so that you can pose for some lesser Lord from the countryside. Mathias will be your brother or something. Gilbert will show you to my arsenal, you can take whatever you want. I'll give you an hour for preparation, then my man will be here to collect you. Make sure you don't cause a commotion and by the gods, don't blow your cover." Ludwig instructed before he got up, and excused himself from the room to finally fix his appearance.

"I'll fetch breakfast." Gilbert said jovially and grinned at me before he left to do as he had said.

I figured this would be the start of two very busy days.

...


	30. The Hole

Just as he had said Ludwig's acquaintance came an hour later to 'collect' them. He was surprisingly a she and turned out to be none other than Elizaveta, Roderich's dragon. Apparently the amount of people Ludwig considered trustworthy was dishearteningly small.

Breakfast was hearty but I almost fell asleep over the eggs. Only after Gilbert brewed me a strong coffee was I awake enough to be coherent. I wasn't used to pulling all nighters, especially not with all the adrenaline involved. I would need some serious amount of sleep that night.

Ludwig had supplied us with a change of clothes, so after breakfast Mathias and I quickly slipped out of our old smelly clothes. Vash had disappeared after breakfast to make us of his privilege to be able to get some sleep. Lucky Bastard.

When we returned, Gilbert and Elizaveta were in the middle of a fight that only ended when Elizaveta threatened Gilbert with a plate and a fork. Somehow the two of them seemed pretty familiar, reminding me of a long married couple. It had something of a well rehearsed theatre performance, played through so many times that the steps came by heart.

Gilbert had wanted to come with us but Elizaveta had had a bit more than a few choice words against it, and with the help of the tableware she managed to get her argument through. That way of arguing sure had some merits. At another time I would have wondered about the angry sex I would get afterwards from Mathias if I ever chose that method. But now I had more important things to take care of.

Ludwig came to collect a pouting Gilbert and with that we were ready to go. Elizaveta had brought two overcoats as a disguise, it was the best we could do in one hour. Ludwig would prepare a better disguise for tomorrow but for now this would have to do. I had never been to the dragon pits before, neither had Mathias so it shouldn't be that big of a problem. We just needed to make sure that no one saw us on the way there.

Thankfully there was a secret tunnel for everything. Seriously, how did I ever move through the palace without those? It was just so damn convenient. Sadly Elizaveta didn't possess the same knowledge of the underground system than Cash and Ludwig did, thus she had to follow a map. And that turned out, let's just say suboptimal.

"We are lost, aren't we?" I asked tentatively after we walked past another intersection and the confused expression on Elizaveta's face came close to alarming. There was no tableware in range but the way she silently fumed with frustration was a bit frightening.

"I know." She grumbled, turning the map on its head and trying to make sense of what she saw. At least she admitted it. "I need the sun or the stars to navigate. Down here I feel like I'm blind." She groaned out in frustration and kicked against the nearest wall.

"Have you ever flown during a starless night?" Mathias asked, causing Elizaveta to pause.

"No." She frowned as if deep in thought. "Roderich doesn't like to fly out at night and well I hadn't had much chance of flying before that." She rolled the map up and tapped it against her thigh. The light hanging on a cord around her neck danced with the movement. "I wouldn't see a thing anyway."

"You could, you know?" Mathias gently touched my shoulder, and I stepped closer to the wall to let him through so that he could talk better to Elizaveta. "You don't need light to see, you don't need the stars to know your way. There is enough of the old blood in you." Elizaveta looked surprised and she ceased her pacing and map tapping to look at Mathias. It was unusual for him to engage in communication with anyone else but me, it had come to the point when other dragons were actively avoiding him. He wasn't exactly aggressive but he had an overwhelming aura that could be too much for a dragon with watered down blood line.

"What do you mean?" She asked, forehead wrinkled into a frown again.

"Close your eyes. I'll show you" Mathias instructed and took Elizaveta's hand. "You can't see now, so jus focus on my hand." It was a strange sight, both dragons stood there in the middle of an empty tunnel and held hands. Mathias closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A moment later Elizaveta gasped and opened her eyes.

"What was that?" She blinked confused at Mathias who grinned at her.

"It's what you could call a dragon sense, or maybe just instinct." Mathias explained and tapped a finger against his temple. "It's comparable to the magnetic sense of some birds. You can locate your position according to the planet's axis and with some practice you'll know the cardinal directions."

"That is… convenient." Elizaveta looked at her hand and closed her eyes again. But after an uneventful minute she opened them again, a questioning look on her face. "How does it work? I can't recall what you did."

"You need to block out all other senses and then it just sort of comes to you. At least that's how it worked for me, but then again I was always a natural." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the nonchalant hug that followed. Show off.

"Great, that helps a lot." She muttered darkly and unrolled the map again.

Mathias shrugged and took the map from her hands. "I can help you practice later if you want." He wasn't meeting her eyes when he said it. It could have been a coincidence but I knew it wasn't. He wasn't used to being friendly, and reaching out to people he had shunned for so long was a big step for him. Maybe I was not the only one he had changed.

Elizaveta took it with grace. She just combined a nod with a shrug and continued as if nothing had happened. "Okay, this should still be able to help us, let's see." Her tongue was sticking out between her lips while she was thinking and she made soft humming noises. Mathias on the other hands gnawed on his thumb while thinking. "We are somewhere around here." She drew a circle with her finger around the addressed area. "Most likely." She added with an increased frown. "The Pit is west from here, can you do that?" She looked up to Mathias.

"Almost, we should be closer to here." He pointed a few centimeters below Elizaveta's circle. "See this intersection here? We just passed that a few minutes ago. I can be wrong of course but I have tried to memorize our location in accordance to the entry point. But going westwards sounds about right."

"Let's hope it is." I agreed dryly. It was all nice and well watching them bond but it was getting a bit cold just standing around in a deep underground tunnel with nothing to do. "Let's go, we have places to be."

We managed to reach the designated exit point eventually. The method wasn't perfect but it worked well enough to get us where we wanted to be, even if we arrived about an hour later than expected. The exit wasn't nearly as fancy as the one that led into Ludwig's quarters. We had to climb up a ladder and through a trap door only to end up in some dank little room full of cobwebs.

"This is definitely an improvement." Elizaveta said with some sort of awful cheerfulness. "I hate to be underground. It makes me all woozy inside." She scowled at nothing and then shook her head as if to dispel bad memories.

"You've been confined in the Pit haven't you?" I asked while Mathias was examining the door and possibly find a way to open it.

Something dark crossed over Elizaveta's face and she looked away. "Yes, that's why I know my way around." There seemed to be a whole world resting behind her words but she stayed silent. How little I knew about the people who helped me. It would be easy to assume that Elizaveta was helping us because her master ordered us but somehow she didn't give of that feeling. But that left one very fundamental question open.

Why did she help us?

I didn't know anything about her, I couldn't even remember her true name. She had never been important to me, neither had Ludwig or Eduard or any of the other people who helped me in my quest. The only thing I could tell was that she wasn't comfortable being here, yet she sucked it up. For all I knew her stay at this place could have been a living hell. That would explain why she was so devoted to Roderich.

"Got it." Mathias had wedged his fingers into the thin gap between door and wall and was forcing it open. "Where are we anyway?"

Elizaveta turned around, the dark feeling about her had passed and she seemed to be her old self again. "In a secret rooms behind one of the storage rooms in the upper levels. The room should be empty, but better to be careful."

"I think it's a little too late for that." Mathias had managed to push open the door but it was obstructed by something behind it, causing a very loud sound as the door banged against it. "Sorry." Mathias shrugged and poked his head through the opening. "Damn it, what is this?" He pushed further but was again halted by the obstruction. "Wait is that a closet? They built a closet in front of the door. Damn."

"Of course they built a closet in front of it, you can't just leave an obvious door in the wall. The closet's there to hide the door." Elizaveta explained and pulled Mathias back from the door to get a look herself. "Apparently cleaning isn't part of guard duty." She commented once she had squeezed through the gap and entered the closet. "Let me just…" It sounded as if something heavy was moved around and then dropped to the floor with a loud clank.

"What are you doing?" I asked. It was clear by now that there were no guards, or anyone else for that matter, on the other side, if there were they would have already sounded an alarm, but still we should at least try and be careful.

"Clearing the way. There's a lot of stuff in here." She called out, followed by another sound of something heavy dropping and probably smashing on the floor. "Okay all clear." Elizaveta pushed open the door fully and revealed the insides of a now empty cabinet that in turn opened into a storage room. A storage room now filled with various smashed items and full of floating dust.

"Why hasn't anybody come yet? You weren't exactly… subtle." I kicked against what seemed to be the remains of a wooden crate filled with moth eaten blankets. "This place looks like it hasn't been used in years. Or they really don't give a crap about their prisoners." Considering how the upper levels of the Pit were used as prison for the worst criminals that thought was so far off.

"I think this part has been abandoned some years ago. Not enough personnel or something like this." Elizaveta carefully opened the door and peeked outside. "Okay guys, it's time to dress up." She snapped her fingers at Mathias who had been tasked with carrying the bag. Despite being injured he was still the strongest of us three, and wouldn't allow me to carry anything while he was there to do the job. And Elizaveta simply argued that she was a lady and shouldn't be required to carry heavy things.

We put on the two overcoats and then Elizaveta pulled out a brush and a small jar with coal dust. "The light is dim so this should suffice in hiding your features." She explained while covering parts of our faces with coal. "You should be careful though, direct light and your disguise is worthless."

"What about you?" Mathias asked and swatted her hands away as she tried to apply another layer.

"I'm a dragon, no one will question my presence. Not if I'm with two wardens at least." There it was again, that faint shadow on Elizaveta's face, brought up by haunting memories. I wondered what she had been through when she was down here. She was a female dragon, usually kept in a special section reserved for breeding but word was that their life was miserable. Not only because they were restricted from flying permanently. She pulled out a metal band out of the bag and fastened it around her neck. It was a prop but it still looked uncomfortable. I couldn't imagine how it was to wear one all the time. Then she took off her fatigues, revealing a torn dress she had been wearing underneath.

"Just follow me and try to look mean and as if you were in a constant foul mood. If anyone questions you tell them you are escorting me and that I am to be bred." Her voice didn't give away anything, she could as well have talked about the weather. But somehow the way she formulated it was sending shivers down my spine. Just what was going on down here?

Elizaveta had been right, the part of the Pit we were in had been abandoned. The wood was rotten and there were stains on the wall of questionable origin. The dust layer on the floor was thick as a carpet and I really didn't want to know what lived in all those dark corners and under toppled over furniture. The abandoned part was closed off with a big steel door but the lock had rusted through over the years and after some pushing Mathias was able to force it open.

Even though I had never been here before I had had some ideas about the place, it surely wouldn't be some nice and cozy place but this was even worse than I expected. There was hardly any difference between the abandoned part and the used part. The ground was dirty, not just dusty but outright dirty. The air was tangible with the smells of human waste and misery and as we proceeded down towards where the dragons were held we heard the wailings and screams of the poor souls that were kept here.

The guards we encountered eyed us with suspicion but a mock struggling Elizaveta who was held between us made wonders in keeping curious questions away. Some even acknowledged us with a nod but unfailingly each and every one of them regarded Elizaveta with a look of disdain. One even spat on the ground. It was disgusting.

"They really don't like dragons huh?" Mathias asked when we were alone in a corridor again.

"No." was Elizaveta's flat answer. She seemed resigned as if she had given up fighting some truths long ago. "The Pit is not under direct jurisdiction of the palace. As long as they provide the palace and the army with dragons they can do whatever they want. They only have to make sure that the goods are in acceptable quality. That's most likely the reason why they hid Berwald here."

"Berwald is on the lowest level?"

"Most likely, yes. If he's not dead that is." It was of course a possibility, one I didn't really like to think about. I could only hope for the best.

I had expected more trouble on the way but strangely we encountered none. No one questioned our presence or our destination, we rarely encountered any people at all the further down we came. But where the guards became scarce the prisoners became more and more miserable. The screams had become rare again, instead there were curses and yelling. And some cells were deadly silent. Dark eyes followed our path and more than one growl emanated from parched throats.

"These are the ones that are either hard or impossible to tame." Elizaveta explained with forced indifference in her voice. They are kept here in order to break their spirit, if that fails…" She shrugged as if that would explain everything. I turned my head to look into the cells while we passed. It wasn't a pleasant sight, the cells were cramped and dirty, the stench was almost caustic and the persons inside were the epitome of human misery. Only that they weren't human. A few had foam on their mouths, almost all eyes glowed red and some looked more feral than human.

"Do you think that Berwald…?" I asked after we had passed a cell with what appeared to be a corpse. My throat felt dry. It was one thing to find Berwald half mad with rage like most of the other inmates but another to find him rotting on the floor.

"No." Elizaveta said firmly, but her voice was shaking. "Most of them have been here for months, some even years. Berwald is strong, he wouldn't… give in so easily." I knew that she had wanted to say the word 'die' but in the face of all this horror it was too close to an omen to voice it out loud.

"I smell something." Mathias growled and stopped to locate the origin of the smell. His eyes were glowing red again and he had pulled back his lips into a snarl. Even if he hadn't held the lesser dragons in high regards, it still went against his instincts to see them locked up and miserable like this. Truth be told I was battling with myself. On one Hand I wanted to free all of them, no one deserved to be kept under these circumstances but I realized that this would put our mission at risk. But I swore to myself I would come back and free them once this all was over. It was the least I could do.

Mathias let go of Elizaveta's arm, he had still held for show and walked down the corridor in front of us. He stopped repeatedly to make sure he was still on track and then suddenly he cursed and started running. I exchanged a vary glance with Elizaveta who just seemed as clueless and I, but we didn't have a choice so we chased after him.

The corridor bent to the right and opened into a wide round room with various doors leading into other rooms. Counting Mathias there were four people in the room, none of them was Berwald. I skidded to a halt, eyes wide with shock and horror and Elizaveta behind me gasped and her fingers suddenly dug fiercely into my arm.

I should have known. It had been too easy. We should have encountered way more trouble on the way.

"I'm really curious how you managed to leave the palace and enter the Dragon Pit without us noticing, you know." Ivan said with that sickeningly sweet smile of his, tapping a lead pipe against the palm of his hand.

"But I'm sure you will be eager to tell me."

...


	31. Confrontation

It was just a second, a mere second of hesitation and surprise, but it was enough for Ivan's companions to move behind us and close up the exit. Mathias hissed and half turned, trying to keep an eye on all of our enemies but my attention was fixed on Ivan. I couldn't put a name on the feeling that raged inside my stomach at his sight. It was something akin to anger and fear and burning hate at the same time.

For a moment I was frozen in place as the shock of the situation settled in but then Ivan's lips twitched into his trademark smile and before I could really understand what I was doing I was moving. I lunged at him but the punch was badly aimed and even if it had hit it would barely have one any damage. But before I could even connect my fist with his face I was grabbed and hurled back, falling unceremoniously to the floor.

I could hear Mathias growl behind me and Elizaveta shrieking something that sounded like a curse but my vision was filled with one big dragon turned human and then hands closed around my throat and I had to struggle for air. "That was not very nice of you." Ivan was smiling, even now and even though his hands applied a steady pressure he was calm and not agitated at all. It was easily the scariest thing in the world.

Someone yelped and then a body cluttered to the floor and for a moment I could feel Mathias' wrath with which he had flung odd his attacker but the sensation scattered when Ivan spoke again. "Move and he'll die." The room crashed into a deafening silence. No one moved, the room was frozen and everything seemed to center around Ivan whose hand was still around my throat. His eyes were cool and didn't betray any emotion. I couldn't have said if he wanted to kill me or not.

"See, that wasn't so hard." Ivan's hand loosened just enough to let me breath freely but he didn't let go of me. "Now Natalya would you be so kind and make sure Eliza here doesn't throw a fit?" I heard movement, feet on concrete ground and then a low growl from Elizaveta followed by a yelp of pain. Ivan's smile only widened.

"You know, I would say I'm getting tired of the trouble you insist on causing but the truth is I rather enjoy it." Ivan's finger dug into the fabric of my collar and yanked me with him as he forced me to stand up with him. I was hit by a flash of vertigo as my world suddenly tilted into the vertical again but Ivan's grip didn't allow more than swaying.

Elizaveta was kneeling on the ground, a blond woman standing over her digging her hand painfully in Elizaveta's hair. She looked familiar somehow but I couldn't place the face. She looked oddly displaced with her neat dress and the white bow in her hair. Yet there was something fierce in her stance, her eyes glinting even colder than Ivan's.

Mathias stood in the middle of the room, hand's clenched uselessly at his side as he watched Ivan threatening my life. There was another man standing next to Mathias, he seemed even more displaced than Natalya. Not because was so prim and proper but because he was obviously uncomfortable. His eyes darted back and forth between Ivan and Mathias and then lingered on Natalya. He didn't seem happy at all to be here.

Well he certainly wasn't the only one.

"What do you want?" I ground out, trying ineffectively to bring some distance between me and Ivan. "And where is Berwald?"

Ivan regarded me with a curious glance, his smile still plastered to his face but there was a hint of darkness in his eyes that refused to be concealed by his mask. It made the hairs on my neck rise in trepidation. "Children who don't behave should be punished." Ivan's voice sounded as if he was reciting something he had said too often already.

The statement hung in the air for a moment and then, just a split second before Ivan's backhand threw me around and down on the floor, I saw an almost expectant and hungry look on Natalya's face. Strangely though, while my cheek stung from the slap, it was that expression that stuck to my memory. There was a ferocious snarl and then Mathias was moving but he was stopped dead in his tracks by my scream as Ivan's boot crashed down on my shoulder.

I tried to push him off but he only pressed down harder, grinding the steel tip of his boot into my shoulder bone. "The rules still apply." He said with an almost idle tone of voice. "You move, he'll die." There was a frustrated growl but seemingly Mathias obeyed. "So where were we?"

Ivan removed his boot but before I could even think of moving he had pushed the end of his lead pipe into the very same spot. "You caused us a lot of trouble, even though we asked you so nicely to behave." Ivan continued as if our conversation hadn't been interrupted by him hitting me. "And now you want to cause even more trouble by rescuing your blue buddy. I can't allow that." He emphasized his words by leaning his weight on the pipe, causing me to cry out in pain. I swore I could feel the metal slowly break its way through skin and bones.

"Leave him alone." Mathias growled. "You promised not to harm him."

"Oh but I didn't. Arthur did but I never made such a promise. And seeing all the trouble you have caused…" He ground the pipe deeper into my shoulder and even though my scream should have drowned it out I could hear the sickening crunch of breaking bones. "You should have just stayed where you were, Arthur would have shipped you off somewhere nice afterwards and you could have lived your own private happily ever after."

"I will rip your heart out." Mathias' voice hardly resembled a human's anymore, he was close to transformation. I tried to see his face, to get him to look at me but Ivan obscured my view. He couldn't transform, not in here, the walls were magically improved, they wouldn't gave way and it would kill him.

"Try." It was the first time Natalya had spoken, her voice was a mixture of a challenge and a threat, and dripping with more ice than Ivan's ever could. Elizaveta whimpered as her hair got pulled even tighter but again I couldn't see the two of them.

"How about we play a little game." Ivan ignored both Natalya and Mathias, his eyes carried a strange glint that filled me with a bone deep fear. He suddenly reminded me of a child about to rip out an insect's wing, not because he was cruel but because he was curious. "Berwald is behind one of these doors, each of you get to pick one."

I heard someone taking a sharp intake of breath and then a breathless giggle and the feeling of dread intensified. Natalya had given me a hint, that look of expectation on her face shortly before Ivan hit me, it was the same now. Ivan was about to do something cruel and she liked it.

"If one of you finds him he's free, so is the lucky finder. The others die." Ivan looked pleased with himself as if he had just done us a really huge favor.

"You can't be serious." Elizaveta choked out but was quickly reprimanded by another tug to her hair. Regardless she pressed on. "There are _monsters_ behind those doors." As if they had heard her, as if on some sick cue, whatever it was that was held behind those doors started to howl and scream, nails clawed over metal and feral growls, even more animalistic than Mathias right now echoed through the air.

"Ah, they don't like to be called that. They are dragons just like you and me." Ivan looked at Elizaveta whose face was pressed against the dirty floor by a thrilled looking Natalya. "They don't like visitors though." He smiled again and finally pulled back the pipe, allowing me a short reprieve from the pain. But the pain in my shoulder wasn't so much the problem right now, it was what was behind those doors.

The ruckus died down as fast as it has started and silence settled once more. These dragons had been imprisoned here for years, no wonder they were mad with pain and fear. It also didn't leave a too good outlook on what would happen if we opened the wrong doors. It would be just like Ivan to let us die like this. And even if one of us got the right door, he certainly wouldn't let them get away.

"You don't understand." Elizaveta urged, trying unsuccessfully to escape Natalya's talon like grip but even with her face pressed into the floor she didn't give up. "You can't control them. Once they are free they will rip you apart." Natalya yanked Elizaveta up at her hair and slammed her face first into the ground, as an effort to quiet her.

There was a sickening crunch and a pained growl. I craned my head to get a better look than just from the corners of my eyes but all I could make out was specks of red on the ground and Elizaveta's face.

"I see someone's eager to get playing." Ivan smiled and snapped a finger at his other minion who, judging by the startled yelp, was rather surprised by the gesture. "Toris would you be so kind and help our dear Lukas up? He seems to have some trouble with his arm." His tone was even more sickeningly sweet than it had been before and the urge to throttle Ivan was again rising. Not that I would be able to overpower him.

I fought to stand up on my own, but every movement hurt my shoulder even if I tried to move it as little as possible. I didn't dare to look at the damage out of fear what I might see. I wouldn't admit it but I was almost thankful when Toris took my uninjured arm and helped me up, surprisingly gently. He looked almost apologetic.

"Noo." Elizaveta tried to break free from Natalya's grasp when Ivan approached her but the other didn't budge an inch. Elizaveta's face was full of blood and her voice had a nasal tone. I realized with a shock that her nose must have been broken. Still she hadn't given up, even when Ivan grabbed her collar and yanked her she tried to get away. "You do that we _all_ die, don't you get that?" I could see tears running down her cheeks from the pain, yet her voice was a threatening growl and she glared at Ivan as if she was ready to stab his eyes out.

"Let me see this." Toris said softly and while I couldn't tear my eyes from the scene before me he pried away the fabric to inspect the wound on my shoulder. It was almost surreal, how detached he was. But even more surprising was the sudden lack of pain as his fingers prodded at the injured part. Instead of pain there was a cooling sensation, easing the tension that had built away. But with the pain also went my ability to move my arm and I looked at Toris with something akin to shock. He had just sedated my injury.

"I don't think so." Ivan said sweetly and I started to get really tired of associating the word 'sweet' with Ivan. "They will be too busy ripping your little tongue out to bother with us."

To my, and even more Ivan's, surprise Elizaveta laughed. It was a wet sound and it caused blood to splatter all over Ivan's front, but the expression in Elizaveta's eyes was almost triumphant. Ivan backhanded her, but since he still held on to her collar she didn't fall down like I had. "You fool." She chocked the words out more than she spoke but the look in her eyes was unwavering.

Ivan opened his mouth to a response, but he didn't even get the chance to say something. There was the sound of metal grating against metal, almost like a screech and suddenly all the composure Ivan had held up was blown out of the window. He swirled around, shock and surprise mixing on his face as he realized just what had caused the sound. Elizaveta stumbled to the floor when Ivan let go of her so suddenly. She scrambled away immediately to get out of reach but both Natalya and Ivan weren't paying her any mind

While Ivan had been distracted by Elizaveta's outburst Mathias had managed to sneak away and opened one of the doors. I didn't know if he had aimed for that door specifically because of what was behind or if it was just a shot in the dark.

And I sure as hell didn't know if that was the wanted outcome.

Mathias barely had time to jump out of the way when something -it was moving too fast to determine what _it_ was- came barreling out of the room. It was followed by the clinking of metal chains and a smell so bad that it made the rest of the Pit seem smelling of roses. I was frozen in place, Toris' hand still on my shoulder as we watched with wide eyes as the thing launched itself at Ivan, its closest target, and threw him half across the room. Natalya screamed and hurled herself at the attacker, part of her body transforming into what appeared to be a dark grey dragon.

Someone shouted, but I was too absorbed in the horror display in front of my eyes to notice who was shouting. Then I was grabbed by the arm and someone- Elizaveta- pulled me with her, right when a body hit the spot where I had just standing. Poor Toris however was less lucky, he got hit by one of the loose chains attached to the _thing_'s limbs and dropped like a sac of rice.

I could finally get a good look at the thing. It had an almost human appearing body but like Natalya it had partially transformed. Long dirty claws, half completed wings, red eyes and sharp yellow fangs. It was dirty from head to toe, naked and its body marked with a lot of scars, some of them were recent. Its nose twitched and it locked eyes on Natalya who cowered over Ivan, lips pulled into a snarl as she tried to shield the other from a possible attack.

"Come on, we have to go." Elizaveta yelled in my ear, eyes wild and face full of blood, she looked almost as terrible as the monster.

"What about Berwald?" I managed to ask as she pulled me towards the exit. We couldn't just leave here without him. Not after I had seen what would become of him.

"There's no time."I tried to escape her grip but she wouldn't let go no matter how much I struggled. "Come on Lukas." She shoved me through the doors right when another door burst open and an inhuman shriek tore through the air. Something crashed against the wall on the other side and small bits of ceiling rained down on us. Elizaveta dragged me through the corridor but I kept my eyes glued to the door, because Mathias still hadn't come out and the sounds that came from inside the room were increasingly terrifying.

A scream, full of pain and agony this time, ripped through the noise and I realized with horror that I knew that voice. I had only heard it say a few words but still it was unmistakably Natalya's. I wanted to press my hands over my ears but Elizaveta held on to my arm and so I tried to block out the terrible sounds that seemed to follow us no matter how much distance we gained.

And then, just as we had reached the next bend in the corridor the wall behind us exploded into a thousand pieces of rubble and residue magic as one of the captive dragons burst through both concrete and magical enhancements. There was no time to react, the dragon didn't waste a second before it jumped at me.

I was frozen in place and for a terrifying long second I looked right into the eyes of death. It would have killed me for sure, with not so much as a hesitation. But right when I thought that this was it, that I had failed and would die, someone grabbed my arm, the injured one unfortunately, and pulled me out of harm's way. Claws, each as long as my hand, buried itself into the ground just where my head had been moments before.

"Run!." Elizaveta bellowed into my ear and shoved me forward to the bend in the corridor. I almost stumbled from the force of her shove, but I managed to steady myself on the wall. I wanted to stay, of course, I couldn't just leave like that, but I knew that Elizaveta was right. I would be killed if I stayed here, or worse, I would provide a liability for the other two at least. I had to run.

Just when I was about to turn around and run I saw how Mathias stepped through the hole in the wall. Our eyes met and I felt relief wash over me. He looked beaten up, bruises decorating his face, clothes torn, but he was alright and that was all that mattered. Elizaveta screamed as she was flung against eh wall by the attacking dragon and Mathias tore his eyes from me. He looked behind himself and gave someone I couldn't see a signal before he jumped right into the carnage.

For a moment I didn't understand what was happening but then someone else stepped in the spot where Mathias just had been. It was Berwald, and aside from looking even more beaten up than Mathias he was fine. I hadn't realized how big the burden was until the weight fell from my heart.

"Come on." He growled once he had cleared his way over to me and took over Elizaveta's spot in dragging me along. "They can handle it." His voice was gruff, even more so than usually and he looked tired. But at the moment I was just glad that he was okay.

Another crash came from behind us followed by a loud ear shattering scream, that made the blood curdle in my veins. There was so much terror and pain in that voice, and it just couldn't be, it couldn't be that this voice belonged to Elizaveta, it just couldn't be.

The scream ended abruptly, like it had been cut off and I felt a terrible sick feeling in my stomach as there was only silence. I wanted to turn back, I would have turned back but Berwald wouldn't let me, he dragged me on, away from the terrible dreadful silence that filled the halls behind us.

And I couldn't stop thinking, even though I didn't want to, I couldn't stop thinking that this was the silence of the dead.

...


	32. Wake up

**A/N: **Okaaaaay, things are getting nasty in here and I feel it is time to tell all of you how eternally grateful I am for your ongiong support. I would have given up long time ago hadn't it been for your nice reviews and favs and so on ;) So thank all of you and I'm sorry (kind of) for the suspense and drama I'm putting you through. I love all of you 3

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Hadn't it been for Berwald, I wouldn't have made it out alive. He dragged me through the corridors, past confused guards who were too distraught by the sounds that were echoing from the lowest levels to pay us much notice. I simply would have gotten lost or more likely turned around at some point to go look for Mathias, because I couldn't help but worry for his safety. But Berwald reassured me that he was fine, that he was too strong to let himself get killed by a bunch of starved half crazed dragons. I couldn't forget however the terrifying sound of Elizaveta's scream.

Berwald didn't know of the secret ways, and I couldn't for the life remember where the exit point had been, but any attempt at stealth was useless anyway. If Ivan knew that we were here so did the rest of them. Which meant we had to get out of here as fast as possible and possibly reach Ludwig to warn him. Of course there was always the small chance that Ivan had operated independently but I couldn't afford to bet on that. This made things infinitively more complicated.

"So what's the plan?" I gasped once Berwald had dragged me into an empty room, somewhere on the top level.

"We wait until Mathias gets here." I tried to tell myself that Berwald must have missed Elizaveta's presence in that entire ruckus but deep down I knew that he hadn't. He had heard what I had, and he had come to the same conclusion. Elizaveta wouldn't make it. And it was my fault.

I tried to calm myself down, the run had exerted me and now my emotions were boiling in my stomach as I remembered that terrible sound that had preceded Elizaveta's scream. I hadn't really registered it consciously until now. That sound, as if something was forcefully torn apart. Something that was not meant for breaking and could withstand most attacks. Something like the body of a dragon.

I didn't realize I was hyperventilating until I felt Berwald's hand firm on my uninjured shoulder. "Lukas, calm down." He commanded and fixed his eyes on mine. "Focus your breathing on me." He inhaled exaggeratedly and blew the air out through his nose in a slow deliberate way. I tried to match my breathing and after a few rounds I was able to focus enough to breathe on my own. "It will be fine."

"How can it?" I croaked, but still tried to keep my breathing even. "You heard her." I couldn't bring myself to say that he didn't only hear her but that he had also accepted that she wouldn't come back. He knew that she wouldn't come back, maybe even more than I did.

"She is a warrior, she knew what she was going into." Berwald affirmed, his hands clenching tight around my shoulder. He looked even more tired from close up. Dirt streaked his face and his hair clung to his scalp in matted strands. And he was pale, making the various bruises on him stand out even more prominent. "And so is Mathias. He will bring her back."

It would have been nice to be able to believe that he meant something entirely different with 'bringing her back'. But I knew far too well that he didn't. It only meant that Mathias would recover her body, so that she could be buried, like the soldier she was.

We waited after that, listening to whatever sounds came from underground, but at least to me, it was silent. Berwald however heard, and he told me what little he could decipher. It was madness. A fight between beasts and he couldn't tell who was winning.

"How many?" I asked, after a long period of silence.

"Two, maybe three." Berwald answered, face scrunched into an expression of deep concentration as he tried to pinpoint each sound and its cause. How he was able to do it at all was beyond me, we were separated by tons of steel and concrete. But according to Berwald the time in the dark cell had sensitized his hearing.

"And Mathias?" I had asked that before, more than once actually, but it needed only a minute to pass for me to get anxious again. After all Mathias had been injured prior to this situation and that slowed him down tremendously. Not that Berwald's answer would change much.

"About two floors down." According to Berwald Mathias had made slow progress upstairs, but unlike us who went mostly unnoticed, the guards had now caught up the situation, resulting in a complete lockdown of the lower levels to get the monster outbreak under control. And since the monster number was dwindling they seemed to be successful.

"So, how's Tino?" Berwald asked, and I couldn't miss the tentative tone of his voice, as if he had worked up his courage all this time to this point. I couldn't blame him, the answer could very well crush his world. But he had to know, just like I would have to know if I were in his shoes.

"He's alive." Berwald stood with his back to me, but I could see the minute change in the tension of his shoulders. But unfortunately this was as far as the good news went. "He won't be for long though." I cleared my throat, and this time the change in Berwald's shoulder tension was obvious. "They're planning on executing him right after the coup as a scapegoat. Vash is out to free him but I can't tell how that is going."

I could no longer watch how the tension rolled through Berwald's body, it was simply too much. This was my fault. If Tino died, it would fall on me. So did Elizaveta's… I couldn't even bring myself to think it.

"Who's Vash?" The question caught me off guard, I had expected a million other questions, but nothing as simple as this. Even though it was a justified question.

"A friend of Ludwig's. He's trustworthy." At least I hoped so. "And skilled." Well, considered his love for guns I figured he was capable enough to use them.

Berwald just nodded, but the tension wouldn't flee his body. Of course not, all he had to trust on was my word on behalf of a stranger, I couldn't blame him for not being relieved. "How's your shoulder?" Berwald finally asked after a long silence. Up until then I had mostly forgotten about the desolate state of my right shoulder. Whatever Toris had done to it, the pain was completely gone, but that didn't mean the wound had disappeared along with it.

Now was as good as ever to look at it. But even though the pain was numbed, the view of the wound wasn't any less unpleasant. From the looks of it the shoulder was dislocated and the collarbone was most likely broken. The wound itself wasn't that deep, the bones had suffered the most damage, while the skin was hardly broken. I could move my arm, but only so much. When I tried to raise my arm, it locked down barely above the height of where my elbow was.

It was one of the strangest experiences I ever had in my life. I knew, with every fiber of my body, that I should feel pain, that moving my arm just an inch should be unbearable, but there was nothing. I didn't even feel numb. There was no strength in my arm however, my grip was weak and keeping my hand clenched was downright exhausting. "Fine, I guess." I said after I had assessed the condition of my arm. Fine, for now at least, there was no telling how it would be like if the magic or whatever it was subsided.

"I can relocate it." Berwald suggested, squinting at me. Only now did I realize that he wasn't wearing his glasses. From the looks of how hard he strained his eyes to see, he must be almost blind without it. Strange to think that a dragon suffered from short sightedness like that.

"Okay." Relocating dislocated limbs was painful usually, so better get done with it while I was still in blissful pain free land. Berwald took my arm and pulled it straight into a suitable position. I could feel Berwald's touch, but hardly, almost as if it was dimmed and when he relocated the joint in one pointed movement I had the weird sensation of stone grating against stone in my arm and then it was over already.

"You should get that fracture looked after." Berwald nodded towards the big purple bruise on my collarbone. I had touched the spot once, but the feeling reminded me too closely of jagged bone ends poking into skin. I just hoped my fingers read the information wrong.

"He's here." Berwald suddenly said as his head snapped around to watch the door. And then I could hear it, the sound of ragged breath coming from outside, the door pushed open and Mathias sagged in more than he stepped in. He had to lean against the door frame to keep upright and with the load he was carrying over his shoulder that was no wonder.

She was bloody and the only reason I recognized her at all was because of the long strands of brown hair. But even those were matted with blood. But the detail that stood out the most was the paleness. The skin stood out a pale, almost iridescent white against the dark blotches of blood. She wasn't moving.

Mathias swayed under her weight and Berwald quickly moved to take her from him. Something clenched in my gut and I almost doubled over. Her limbs seemed to be just lifeless appendages, dangling back and forth while she was transferred. Believing to know something was true was still another thing than actually seeing prove that it was true. So far I had been able to cling on to just the tiniest shred of hope that maybe Berwald was wrong, that I was wrong and Elizaveta had just been gravely injured.

There was no such hope now.

"We should go. It won't be long until they lock down the entire place." Mathias groaned and ran a hand through his hair. He was covered in almost as much blood as Elizaveta, only that most of it wasn't his. I also noticed that he moved his shoulder around without problems, so apparently he had taken care of that. Dragon magic was a scary thing, while mostly fueled from the wielders own life energy, the dragon could also tap into the life force of other beings and sap their strength. As easy as that sounded, it did involve a lot of blood and gore. Mathias had been reluctant to disclose any more details and since I really didn't want to hear about him possibly eating hearts and stuff, I hadn't pressed the matter.

For a moment I caught Mathias' eyes and a weak smile played on his lips. But then he was business again. Berwald carried Elizaveta- I still refused to say her 'body'- and waited until I had followed Mathias through the door before he stepped through himself.

The way out of the Dungeons and back to Ludwig's rooms passed in a haze. Somewhere in the middle of it the pain returned in my arm, slowly at first but when we finally reached safe ground again I was sweating with the effort not to cry out in agony. The wound wasn't infected, thank goodness, but a broken collarbone that had been left unattended, and on top of that, moved around a lot was no piece of cake.

I couldn't remember much from what happened after we returned to Ludwig's rooms, because as soon as Ludwig had assessed the situation he knocked me out with something really strong.

I remembered however waking up with a headache that felt more like my skull was split open. For a moment I didn't know where I was or what had happened and I just lied there, blinking my eyes dumbly at the indifferent ceiling while my head was pounding with pain. Seemed like these days I was always in some kind of pain.

At least my shoulder felt alright, so that was something. After a while my head had calmed down enough for me to sit up and look around. It seemed to be some sort of guest room, similar to what I had in my own chamber and I concluded that I must have been at Ludwig's. But that still left one rather important question. How long had I been sleeping?

And more importantly, why the hell was my arm completely fine?

A short panicked moment I thought that I had slept through everything, that the coup was over and that I had missed everything. But that couldn't be possible. I couldn't have slept on for the weeks it would have needed for the fracture to heal naturally, so something else must have healed me. My first thought was of course Mathias, but that was unlikely. Albeit very powerful, dragon magic was mostly destructive and even though a dragon could forcibly self heal- at the cost of stamina and/or blood- they couldn't heal others. Maybe our bond changed that but I doubted it.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

I climbed out of the bed I had been lying in and had to steady myself on the headboard when I was hit by vertigo, followed by another flash of a massive headache. But it passed as fast as it had come. It was dark outside, the only light coming from the moon outside, but it was still bright enough to illuminate the room. My legs felt weak and my stomach growled persistently with hunger but right now I had other things to focus on.

The door creaked as I opened it but the hallway behind it was dark. There was light under another door at the other end however and I carefully made my way over. I was about to open it, when a voice from the other side stopped me halfway through the motion.

"So what are we going to tell him?" The voice was grave and heavy with something that sounded too much like grief, rendering me motionless with surprise, for just a few seconds, but long enough to that I could hear the response. And it was that response that froze me in place.

"The same thing you told me, the truth." It was Berwald who spoke, but I was barely able to recognize the voice it was his. He just sounded so empty and defeated, as if he had lost the ground under his feet. I couldn't move, because the gravity that lurked behind those words rooted me on the ground and I couldn't breathe, because there was only one thing that could cause this reaction. I couldn't move, I didn't move because moving would shatter this precious moment, suspended in time, in which I could still believe that everything was fine, in which the truth hadn't yet been unveiled.

In this short moment, nothing more than the blink of an eye, I could have walked away, escape the reality that was about to crash, but I didn't and then the moment was gone and Gilbert spoke again: "Is that a wise idea? He's still recovering from the forced healing. The sorcerer said he needed at least a day."

Someone laughed, it was a dry sound, barely worth the name, but I still recognized it as Mathias'. "We don't have that much time, besides he needs to know." There was s short silence and then I could hear the deep sigh that Mathias breathed out and somehow just with that sigh the last of my hope that maybe it wasn't that bad dispersed, even before I heard what Mathias said next: "Even if it will break his heart."

Vash raised his voice to speak: "I'm sorry." He sounded tired and his words were followed by the clinking of glass as if he was washing away his sorrow with liquor.

There was not much doubt in what he could mean with his words. I tried to draw in a breath but it felt as if my chest was constricted all of a sudden. I didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be. Not after all we had been through, not like this.

"It's not your fault." Mathias said, but there was no strength in his voice. The atmosphere was heavy and I could hear the sounds of more than just one glass being placed back on the table.

"I was too late. I couldn't even-" Vash cut himself off and fought a few seconds to regain his composure. It was too much, as little as I knew of Vash, he had always been the calm and reserved type, to hear him losing his cool like this was unbearable. "They took his head and-"

"Don't." Berwald choked and it was impossible to miss the tears in his voice. "Just don't." He repeated and then I could hear a very audible intake of breath, followed by a sound that I would have never expected to ever hear in my life. The sound of Berwald crying.

"I just… I don't… I can't believe he's gone." Berwald was fighting for words and it tore at my heart to hear him like that. "I thought I lost him before, but then you told me he was… but now…" Berwald's words were interrupted by sobs and eventually he just trailed off, dissolving fully into the sorrow that racked his body. My legs could no longer carry me and I slumped to the ground, hand clutching at my chest, but there was nothing I could do to ease the pain.

It was just too much. It had seemed so easy and foolproof, to send Vash to save Tino, I had seen how capable he was after all. But he was only human and he had failed, just like that. Just like we had with Elizaveta. I wished that I had never woken up from my sleep.

There was a long silence, only interrupted by the clinking of glass and the wet sound of Berwald crying. I was kneeling on the cool ground outside in the hallway and desperately trying to remember how to breathe but the emotions that were rising in my chest made it hard to focus, even on the simple things. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't, I wasn't ready to face the others yet, because how could I face them when it was all my fault?

I dug my fingers into the fabric of my shirt but it was just a meek shadow of the pain inside. My eyes burned but there were no tears just the feeling of sandpaper under my eyelids. I felt a sob rising but I choked it down, fingers now digging deeper into my chest.

"I don't know what to do." Berwald spoke again but now his tears had dried out and he sounded hollow. "Tino was my life." His words were met with the empty echo of silence and I could no longer bear it. I choked out a dry sob as my throat constricted violently. Somehow it was different than before when I had thought that Tino was dead, because now there was no doubt, no tiny shred of hope that maybe just maybe Tino was alright. Not in the face of Berwald's grief. I couldn't handle it.

I didn't realize it when the door opened and Mathias, alerted from the sounds I had made, stepped out. Only when Mathias knelt next to me and wrapped his arms around me did I notice his presents. But even his warmth and comfort couldn't coax out the tears I so desperately wanted to shed. I had no right t cry, not after I had caused so much grief.

It was my fault. Elizaveta's death, Tino's death, it was all my fault. I forced myself to look up and into the room, where Berwald, Vash and Gilbert sat around a table with an emptied whiskey bottle and four glasses on top. They all carried grave expressions, but it was Berwald's face that broke my heart. His eyes were dull and rimmed with the red of spilled tears, I could still see the wetness on his cheeks. It would have been easier if there had been accusation in his eyes or at least rage, but there was nothing, just emptiness.

It was like looking in the mirror of what I would be like should I ever lose Mathias. It was how Roderich must have looked like when he heard from Elizaveta's death.

Even if they could forgive me, even if the two men whose life I ruined would forgive me, I wouldn't, I could never forgive myself.

...


	33. Solace

**A/N: **Check out this amazing fanart from the awesome verametric she drew for this story! Inspired by chapter 3.

Just go on deviantart and then add the following to the url: art/Black-Ember-Fanart-Claw-Mark-376909801

I am so thrilled 3

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The thing about loss is that you can only take so much. I had gone through far too many deaths that turned out to be false throughout the last week that I simply couldn't take the real thing. Not when this time it was out of the question that it was fake. This time there was no slight chance that everything would turn out okay, this time there was no hope I could cling on to that maybe with the next morning everything would be alright again.

This was final.

And it was all my fault.

Mathias hauled me up at some point and more carried than supported me to the couch in Ludwig's living room. Berwald sat in one of the two armchairs, sunken into himself and nursing a glass of whiskey, but I couldn't get that haunted emptiness in his eyes out of my mind. It was like looking into the future I had laid out for myself if I had continued my path of revenge. This could have been me, or even worse, Mathias.

Gilbert looked tired, his white skin reminded me with terrible clarity of the white of Elizaveta's skin when Mathias had carried her into that room. I wanted to ask where she was, if she was taken care of, but I couldn't bring my mouth to function. And at the thought of asking about Tino, about details– of any sort, my chest constricted and I had to fight to keep breathing. The truth was there, but I couldn't handle it, so I stayed silent.

Vash didn't look any better, there was a dark stain of _something_ on his temple as if he had rubbed it with his dirty hands. It was something red, looking suspiciously like blood and I had to force my eyes away or I would have thrown up right then and there.

Mathias pressed a glass with whiskey in my hand and for a moment I just looked at it dumbly and tried to remember what I was supposed to do with it. The liquid burnt its way down my throat and I coughed but I kept swallowing until the burning was replaced by a warm feeling in my stomach. I had a low alcohol tolerance, thank goodness, so the effect was immediate.

I never understood why people insisted on drinking heavy liquor- until now.

Without asking Mathias refilled my glass and set the bottle down next to me afterwards before he dropped down heavily on the sofa. Gilbert threw me a glance, seemingly asserting something, but I didn't know- or care- what it was. "So what now?" He finally asked, but no one even acknowledged that he had heard him. I didn't want to think about what now. It didn't matter anymore, not with Tino gone.

I could feel Mathias eyes on me but I didn't react, the contents of my glass were of much graver importance to me at the moment. He was waiting for me to give him a direction, he didn't show it but he was as thrown off by the situation as the rest of us. He was still bound to me though, and he would only act if I gave him incentive. A crippling constellation truly, since I was as far from being active as could be.

Gilbert slammed his hand down on the table, causing me to jump so hard that I almost dropped my glass. "Get a hold god damn it." He growled, fingers clenching around the edge of the table. "We don't have time for this." He pushed up and yanked the glasses out of both Berwald's and my hands. "Do you want to sit here and wallow in your misery or do you want to give Tino's death a reason?"

The words were like a slap to the face and I flinched under their harshness.

"That's right." Gilbert continued, eyes ignite with fiery rage. "He. Is. Dead. Suck it up."

"Gil-"

"Shut it Ember. You just going to sit here while your precious master drowns himself in guilt? What's done is done and we can't-"

"How can you say that?" I hadn't realized that I was crying until I heard the tremor in my own voice. "He could still be alive if we just had..." I blinked but the tears just kept coming, making my vision swim. I didn't even know what I tried to say, I only knew that I couldn't let Gilbert's words stand in the room. I just couldn't.

"Yes, exactly, if." Vash had set his glass down and was now looking at me. My eyes instantly snapped to the smudge of blood on his temple. "He's right." He indicated his head towards Gilbert, but his eyes stayed trained on me. "If you start piling up the 'if's and 'what could be's you will end up in a mountain so big it'll swallow it. Do you want that? Do you want to waste Tino's life just because it hurts too much to function?"

His words hurt, not just because his tone was angry, not just because he forced me to remind the fact of Tino's death, but because they hit too close to home.

"That is easy for you to say." Berwald growled, finally taking part in the conversation that had been going on around him. "You didn't know him. You just failed him." Silence followed his words and for a moment the air was heavy with unbearable tension as a million possibilities branched off from this point. I could feel it, like something crawling over my skin. Whatever happened next would decide over the fate of all the people in this room, maybe even more.

"Maybe." Vash said slowly, hand smoothing over the surface of the table in an attempt to calm the situation. "And you can hate me for that for the rest of your life, but now we have something far more important at stake." Berwald seemed as if he was about to reply, mouth open but then he just slouched back into his chair.

"So?" Gilbert leaned against the back of the sofa, seemingly relaxed again but I could see his fingers tensing. "Are you in?" His eyes flicked from Berwald to me and I realized that the question was both directed to Berwald and me.

It was painful to admit that he was right. I'd much rather just sit here and drink until I was too wasted to care but I just couldn't do that. Tino had fought and died for this, for a chance to end this war and bring peace back to our Empire. Elizaveta had died for this cause, maybe not even knowing what she was part of but wanting to help out a friend nevertheless. I owed it to them.

I nodded because I didn't trust my voice but it seemed to be enough. Berwald took his glass and downed the contents in one go, slamming it back on the table once he was finished. "Fine." He growled. "But I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this because he would have wanted me to."

There was a hand on my shoulder, squeezing reassuringly and I turned to look at Mathias. He wasn't smiling but I could read the support in his eyes. It was not a question that he would be behind me in everything. How did I deserve so much support and love?

"Good." Gilbert flexed his fingers as if he was preparing for something really unpleasant. "Ludwig has sent someone to check on the situation but it seems that the plan hasn't been moved ahead. Meaning it will go down tomorrow."

"But then why…?" It was still hard to acknowledge the harsh reality but I tried to focus on what was important right now.

"I don't know. Maybe they just wanted to make sure that they had their scapegoat." Mathias took the whiskey bottle and filled another round of glasses.

"Or maybe they moved the plan along after what happened with Ivan." Gilbert suggested with a shrug, making clear that it wouldn't do good to linger on the topic. It was hard to accept what had happened, not when I wanted so badly to go back and change it. But it needed to be done.

"So the plan's basically staying the same?"

"Yes, we should fill Berwald in and then proceed as planned."

Silence settled after that as everyone returned their attention to the glass of whiskey in their hands. It didn't feel like much more needed to be said, the plan hadn't changed so everyone knew what to do. Words would have just broken the brittle peace that had just settled.

The alcohol was numbing on my tongue and I readily lost myself in the steady burn of fire down my throat. It wasn't wise to drink into the night before an important day, but right now I couldn't care less. I couldn't let my emotions cripple me, not now, even at the cost of a clear head.

That was of course no less risky than letting my mind be clouded by emotions, but it was the less painful way.

Vash was the first one to excuse himself. Shortly after Gilbert followed and after taking one last look at me and Mathias Berwald stood up and left too. I couldn't blame him for not wanting to stay in one room with me. I was the reason his lover was dead. From somewhere out of the depth of my inebriated mind a dry chuckle emerged. It sounded hollow and desperate in the whiskey infused air of the room but even that notion felt like I observed it through a microscope.

"The only good thing out of this is that we no longer have to bother with Ivan." Mathias said eventually and took a swig from his whiskey. I snorted, but didn't bother to reply. That was one way to look at it. The thought of Ivan stirred something inside of me, some resemblance of anger but the feeling vanished under another layer of whiskey.

"And we don't have anything to lose anymore." Mathias said, almost somberly. I snorted, because yes, _that_ certainly was a good thing. Mathias didn't say anything after that and returned to nursing his liquor. A comfortable silence ensued and I lost myself in the depth of my thoughts.

The whiskey bottle was empty, had been empty for quite a while now and somewhere in that room a clock ticked the hours away, unrelenting and merciless. The furniture was tinted in the soft amber color of whiskey and seemed to dance slowly to the music in my head. It didn't feel that awful, not like this when my mind was cushioned in the warmth of an afternoon sun.

How could anyone ever say that alcohol was bad?

I was aware of Mathias' presence in the room, but so far neither of us had said a thing. But that was okay, he was there, that was all that mattered. We didn't need to talk to understand each other. I could feel his thoughts drifting through the room like leaves dancing on a summer breeze, gentle and loving and it made me feel warm and fuzzy.

There was a soft sound like a river dancing over moss covered stones and then my glass was full again as it was pressed into my hands by cool fingers. I swiveled the liquid around in the glass, a thoughtful gesture I had seen my father done so many times over like the whiskey was his friend he just shared some profound knowledge with.

I hadn't seen my father for quite a while now, I should go and visit him some time. I mused idly as I watched the liquid slosh. I didn't care that for some reason the whiskey had lost its color, maybe the furniture had drank it all away. But I should really go and visit my parents, they must be sick with worry that they hadn't seen me for so long. There had been a reason why I hadn't visited them, if only I could remember what it was…

I raised my glass and emptied it in one go, indifferent at first to the strange taste but as the liquid scorched down my throat I realized that this was not whiskey. I spluttered, setting the glass down with a loud clunk and coughing until the burning faded. It felt like the first sip of whiskey, only thrice as bad and instead of the soft aftertaste of honey there was the bitter taste of something strange and unfamiliar scratching against the back of my throat.

My eyes watered as I watched Mathias chuckle quietly while he put down a bottle in front of me. "Vodka." He said softly and screwed the cap back on. "You had enough." I wanted to argue but now that the whiskey induced haze had been cleared up a bit, I realized that the slight swimming of my vision was actually rather unpleasant.

"I'm drunk." I concluded after I had tried to pinpoint the exact position of my fingers on my knee- without success I might add. They just kept blurring into each other. I sighed and finally looked up. "I didn't think it was that easy."

"What do you mean?" Mathias asked and rested his hand on mine. At another time I would have taken offense at the way he suddenly treated me like porcelain but to my drunken mind it seemed oddly fitting.

"To drown your emotions." Somehow that realization felt way heavier than it should. Even though I had aimed for that effect I still had expected that it would take more or that it wouldn't work as well. I almost felt cheated. Just a little whiskey and the pain was gone, as if Tino hadn't been important. "It should be harder, don't you think so?"

Mathias sighed, it was a burdened sound, speaking of memories far older than me. "You shouldn't drink to forget. You should never drink to forget, that road only leads to ruin." He leaned over to take my hand in his. His touch was warm, almost too warm against the coolness of my skin but I didn't mind, it was the warmth that always comforted me at night. "Drink to mourn, but never to seek oblivion." Mathias said as he squeezed my hand gently.

I threw myself into his arms and out of nowhere there were tears streaming down my face. "I'm sorry." I sobbed, again and again, but the tears didn't stop, and I clasped my hands into the fabric of his shirt, crying and begging for a forgiveness I didn't deserve. Mathias wrapped his arms around me and just held me while I cried out all the pain and the sadness I had built up, but even then it was not enough. It wouldn't be enough for a long time.

The tears dried eventually and my shoulders stopped shuddering with sobs but I still held on to Mathias, because right now he was my safe anchor, all that kept me grounded while the grief tried to sweep me away.

His lips were in my hair and I felt more than I heard him whisper words of comfort. I closed my eyes and let his voice wash over me like a gentle breeze and it was just like drinking whiskey all over again. Only that the pain was there again. "It's okay." He whispered, repeating it just as I had repeated 'I'm sorry'.

It was a lie, a sweet comforting lie. It wasn't okay, it would never be okay but still I clung on to his words, because I would fall apart if I didn't. "How long does it take?" I asked, my voice hoarse from all the sobbing, like sandpaper rasping over wood. It felt like my throat was filled with rusty nails.

"It never ends." Mathias said after what felt like an eternity of silence. His voice was laced with the burden of memory again and I didn't need to ask to know what he was thinking about. "It just gets easier after a while, but the pain never truly fades." He didn't say guilt, of course he didn't say guilt but he might as well just have.

"It's not your fault." Mathias said as if he had heard my thoughts, and maybe he had. He had always been more perceptive when it came to the bond between us, catching on to things far more easily than I. Or maybe he was just empathic.

I nodded into his chest but it was an automatic gesture. I had been so stupid, to think that I was ready to sacrifice everything just to get my revenge. Not just my own life but that of others too, I had thought that I could do that without feeling remorse. I had thought I were immune to grief after I had mourned my parents. How wrong I had been.

"It's alright." Mathias whispered again, his hand combing through my hair, soothing like a mother almost. At some point he had pulled me close into his lap and was now cradling me like a child. But at the moment feeling like a child that got doted over seemed to be something favorable. It was warm and comfortable and Mathias' voice was a calm murmur in the background.

_It's alright._

_I love you._

_You'll be fine, we'll be fine._

_I love you._

_Forever._

My mind was slowly succumbing to the effects of the whiskey, or maybe it was the tiredness from the healing, and I felt myself drift off to sleep. My heart was almost light again and even the thought of waking up to the renewed emptiness in my chest couldn't frighten me. Not now when everything was warm and glowing in the color of ambers and whiskey. Not when the very air tasted of honey.

_I love you._

_Everything will be fine, you'll see._

_I love you._

_It will be okay._

And maybe, just maybe it would really be okay someday.


	34. Banquet

The night passed eventually and I woke up in an unfamiliar bed with a headache splitting my head open and a heater in the form of a man next to me. And for a sweet, exquisite minute I lost myself in the illusion that the hangover was my worst problem in this world.

Then reality settled back in.

Of course it wasn't that easy, of course my life was not that simple.

I just wanted to close my eyes and go back to sleep and hopefully never wake up, but not only the pounding headache prevented me from that. Seemed like I had a lot of those these days. Hangovers were never pleasant but right now I chose to focus on all the small uncomfortable things that came with one, because it was infinitively better than having to remember the pain that caused my lapse with alcohol.

My tongue felt like something had died on it and then moved down my throat. But the worst was definitely my head. I wanted to scream in frustration, it just was too much. All the times I had woken up, feeling like I had been trampled on by horses, only to be faced by a hopeless situation. I didn't know how much more I would be able to take.

Wisely, I had kept my eyes closed. I didn't need spearheads of light stabbing into my brain in addition to the crappy condition I was already in. If only everything could just go away.

The body next to me moved and then pressed against me in an early morning embrace. Mathias grunted and I could feel warm breath on my neck as he kissed me 'good morning'. I realized that I was tense all over, but I couldn't bring myself to react. The little movement from Mathias had been enough to make explosions of white pain blossom in my head, I was not interested in seeing what would happen if I so much as moved on my own.

At least thinking didn't hurt.

"What's wrong?" Mathias asked, worry clearly evident in his voice, but I grit my teeth instead of giving an answer. He had only whispered but his voice rung loudly in my head, like bells that had been told on an early Sunday morning.

Warm fingers pressed against my temple and I finally was tempted into moving in order to swat the intrusive digits away. Usually I appreciated the heat that Mathias' body provided but right now I would have preferred a cloth with cold water.

"My head hurts." I moaned and tried to disappear into the blankets. There was no reason whatsoever for me to be awake right now, so why couldn't I just fall back to sleep? If only it were that easy.

Mathias pulled his hand back and judging by the way the bed dipped in one direction away from me he was apparently getting up. I still refused to open my eyes, the warmth on my face indicated that at least some morning sun was shining through the window and I had no intention of burning my eyes out, figuratively.

Somewhere deep down I knew I was acting childish, but in the emotional hurt stage I was in I couldn't quite find the will to be bothered. I wanted to be comforted, for someone to tell me that it would be alright, t take all the pain and the responsibility away from me. I wanted to just stay here and sleep and not having a care in the world.

A faint memory tickled my conscience and I imagined to hear Mathias' voice, repeatedly telling me that it would be okay', but no that couldn't be, because Mathias knew it wasn't that easy, it wouldn't just be okay because I wished for it to be.

I felt like throwing up, not because I was nauseous but because of the terrible taste on my tongue and the furry feeling on my throat. Maybe I could puke my brains out and spent the rest of my life in some nice little asylum on the countryside, a nutjob no one cared about.

Of course it wasn't that easy.

It was never that easy.

Eventually Mathias returned, a stern faced Ludwig by his side and together they hauled me out of bed, not that Mathias couldn't have managed that feat on his own, but for some reason he wanted to share the blame. The headache was apparently only partially due to my hangover but mostly a result of my healing experience from the day before. Forcing the body to speed up on a natural process took a toll and since I wasn't magical like Mathias this toll resulted in me having my head split open by a figurative shovel.

While Ludwig was checking the dilation abilities of my pupils to check on the general condition of my brain, I also learned that the sorcerer had kindly seen to also fixing the remnants of my concussion, which seemed to be the main cause of the headache.

Frustrating truly, especially considering that the usual side effects to forced healing were itching skin and heightened sensitivity around the healed area. Annoying maybe, but at least not painful.

I noticed how both Mathias and Ludwig were handling me like a raw egg, and as I realized the reason for that, my headache was temporarily shoved into the farthest corners of my perception. I still had a job to do, and both my lover and partner and my colleague who valued order over everything else, seemed to doubt me capable of the task.

I should be ashamed of myself. I was letting everyone down, because I couldn't handle the consequences of my actions. I had no longer the right to be weak, not after I had caused us to lose so much.

I took the pills Ludwig offered me, something against the migraine, and flushed them down with the water Mathias was offering. It was hard and I still felt like rolling into a tight ball and just cry all day but I had made my decision. I would see this through to whatever end it would come to and then… Then I would see where my path would lead to.

I shoved everything unnecessary into the back of my mind and focused my attention on the here and now.

"What's the status?" I asked, seemingly surprising both Ludwig and Mathias, and even though the thought hurt I ignored it in favor of concentrating on the answer.

"Unchanged so far." Ludwig finally supplied. "The preparations are going smoothly but everyone is on edge. We are monitoring the locations of Lord Kirkland and his dragon and the Lords Kiku and Mei but we have no idea where Mr. Williams and Mr. Jones are. We do however know the whereabouts of Ivan and his henchmen."

I nodded, taking in the information as it was offered while at the same time keeping the emotions at bay that threatened to surface. "Ivan is dead?" I affirmed. It had been evident in Ludwig's voice but I wanted to be sure on that detail. Ludwig only nodded , and really that was all I needed.

With everything said and done there was not much left to do before the confrontation. We went through the details one more time, just to be safe. I still wasn't in best condition but it would make due. Most of the work would be done by Mathias anyway.

Gilbert had prepared a meal for all of us, for strength as he said, but none of us was really hungry. I ate it anyway, because Gilbert was right, we would need our strength.

The morning passed quietly, at least for us. Outside Ludwig's door however it was anarchy. Preparations were in their finishing touch, but as usual with events like this, nothing really went as planned. Ludwig had his men amidst the servants and a few of the lesser nobles also kept their eyes out so we were all updated on the situation.

I tried to sneak off to get some alone time with Ludwig's liquor cabinet but Mathias intercepted me and from then on out kept a close eye on me. It wasn't so much the tension that came from waiting and not being able to do anything beside sitting and listening to each new report that came in. This was the day, the day I had worked so hard for to prevent and this was also the day Tino had given his life for. And now I would have to make sure that he wouldn't be blamed for something he never did. And as tragic and painful as it sounded, I had to make sure that, yes, Tino's death was in vain.

My resolve had felt so strong this morning, but with every passing hour I felt it wavering. I wanted to curl up with a bottle of strong liquor and just forget everything. But I couldn't. So I kept listening to status updates, progress reports and carefully filed every bit of information away, as insubstantial as it seemed. And I carefully tugged away each emotion that dared to show its head.

It was a brittle balance, but so far I managed. I only needed to hold on until all of this was done, then it wouldn't matter anymore if I broke or not. I was faintly aware that I hurt Mathias with my behavior but the empathy to care was buried too deep under pain and sorrow. I just hadn't enough energy left to be strong for two people.

The afternoon came and went and soon it was time to get ready. Ludwig insisted on going over the plan one last time and then, just like that, we were ready. As ready as we could ever be.

It felt strange in a way. We put on elegant clothing, not exactly functional but it would make do. And then it was time to go and for a moment, as we all were gathered in Ludwig's reception room, everyone was reluctant to make the first step. This could very well be our last night on earth and no one really knew what to say on such an occasion.

Berwald was nowhere to be seen, but I couldn't say where he might have been. I couldn't really blame him for not being present, in his position I wouldn't want to see the faces of the people who killed his partner. I had thought about talking to him before we might no longer have the chance, but even if he had been here, I wouldn't have known what to say. 'Sorry' just wouldn't cut it.

There were no words big enough to really convey what I felt. And even if I could find the words, I wouldn't forgive me in his place. It didn't matter anyway. I would pick up the pieces as best I could, and that was about all I could do.

"So…" Gilbert made the awkward attempt to start, but he didn't really seem to know what to say. "Let's do this." He smiled, but it was evident that it was forced. Maybe this would have been the right moment to make some grand speech, to leave something behind the world would remember us by, but really, there was nothing I wanted to say.

I caught Ludwig's eye and held it for a moment, before he nodded in acknowledgement. "Let's go." He said and flicked his hand, indicating for Gilbert to follow him. Vash cleared his throat once they were gone, as if to say something, but then whatever it was seemed to evade him and he left with another acknowledging nod.

Mathias brushed a hand over my shoulder and followed the others outside. I took a deep breath, calming myself as much as possible before I stepped through the door and closed it behind me. It felt final, and it probably was, but this was my decision and I wouldn't step away from my responsibility.

The way over to the main dining hall was surprisingly quiet. The corridors were almost empty, aside from regular guards who eyed us suspiciously. I couldn't suppress a shudder as some of them followed us with their eyes. I remembered what Ludwig said about the half of the guards being in Arthur's pocket. This could become a problem. But Ludwig would have to deal with that, Mathias and I had our own task. And that was dangerous enough.

When we came close to the center of the palace there were significantly more people and security was even tighter. But I had anticipated that and with the proper clothing, and of course the attitude, and with a little wave with the invitation Yao had given me, the guards just waved us through. I could feel my skin prickle as I stepped through the double winged doors at the entry. I remembered Ludwig explaining how the rooms had been magically enhanced to give alarm when someone attempted to smuggle weapons in, but neither Mathias nor I had weapons with us.

It was an informal dinner, only invited guests and only a small round so there were no official announcements and only the most basics of protocol. The official part would start tomorrow. The 'situation' in the Dungeons had been brought under control, and hadn't I had been there I had never believed that it really happened, with all the absence of concern, and even interest in this room.

I immediately noticed the hostile atmosphere in the room, it was almost palpable. There was no real hostility in the room however, no, everyone was on their best behavior, smiling and indulging in pleasant conversation. It was the undertone that was making the hair stand up on my back and arms, the exchange of hidden glances, the abundance of cool eyes that were untouched by all the fake smiles and of course the delicacy with which the two groups had taken position in the room.

There were islands made up of supporters of one side, but there were a few spots where they mingled. And it was there that the tension was the greatest. It was also where at least one member of the visiting fraction was, and there seemed to be a silent battle going on in an attempt to pull the strangers to one of the two opposing sides.

Upon the moment we entered I could feel a number of eyes set on me, both approving and calculating. There was Yao, who seemed genuinely pleased to see us, there was Roderich who looked immensely tired, but who still offered us a weak smile of support and there was Arthur who threw us a close to scathing glance, before he turned back to talk to the ambassador.

The ambassador himself wasn't at all how I had expected him. But then again I didn't really spend much time on imagining how he would look like. He wore a white mask that hid his eyes, but the proud grin on his lips very nearly made up for that. He seemed to at ease with the situation and spoke with a loud and enthusiastic voice, much to Arthur's chagrin. There was another man with the ambassador, he looked as if he was close to falling asleep on his feet, but there was something in his eyes, an alertness, like a predator about to strike that made my skin prickle. His eyes swiped over me, but he didn't give any indication that he knew who I was and then he locked eyes with Lord Kiku and a lazy smile appeared on his lips.

I felt safe to conclude that this was their inside man, the one who would take over once Lord Sadik was out of the way.

The room was dominated by the big oaken table in the middle of the hall, decked with white linen and silver tableware. It was decadent, in all senses of the word, thick crystal glasses, remnants from the old times, reflected the lights from the candelabras. The air was filled with the smells wafting in from the kitchens and a band of musicians played a soft melody that barely carried over the noise of chatter.

It was a deliberate setup, reminiscent of the Empire's glorious past, when we had been the undisputed rulers of the sky. The stem of the glass set in front of Yao's place was carved into the form of a dragon, his flames embracing the corpus. It was just one among a seemingly countless amount of more or less well placed dragon imageries, reminding everyone in the room just where we were.

Not to mention all the real dragons that were present in the room, standing dutifully behind their masters like protocol dictated, condemned to silence as it was regarded as rude if a dragon spoke up while humans talked. It reminded me just how little rights the dragon had, a fact I easily forgot while being around like-minded people.

Under different circumstances I might have found some amusement in the pretentiousness, but like this it was just tiresome. Dragons were and always had been slaves to the Empire, and as much as I liked to believe otherwise, I was no different than the rest. So all this pride about our 'heritage' was nothing more but a farce, because we didn't just enslave the dragons, we destroyed them. Even Mathias, strong and wild Mathias, had become far more docile than he used to be. Maybe it was because of love, maybe it was natural after what we became to each other but it didn't change that he was tamed.

I felt out of place all of a sudden. I used to live alongside these people, work with them, fight for them in a war that had lost its meaning a long time ago and still I felt like I didn't belong. I had no place here, I should be mourning at the grave of my best friend. Did he even have a grave?

I had to pull myself back right then and there or the surfacing emotions would have swallowed me. I could feel Mathias restlessness behind me, he wanted to comfort me but he wasn't allowed to and that, above everything else, made me furious.

My thoughts were interrupted by a servant all dressed in neat black who politely but firmly drew my attention to the seat I 'please may take'. It certainly didn't lack a certain comic to watch as everyone was guided in the same firm way to their respective seats, with an efficiency that was nothing less but impressive. It was almost like watching a shepherd's dog herding sheep.

But that was as far as my merriment would go, now the serious part would start and I had to watch out for every little sign of disaster. So far all members of the rebels were in this room, aside from the casualties and Alfred and Matthew. Ludwig had arrived shortly before the herding began, and that completed the group of Yao's supporters.

Mathias, just like all the other dragons, didn't get a seat, but stood in respectful distance to his master. The only upside was that this gave him a better view of the room and a better position to strike from if the situation got out of hand.

Yao stood up once everyone was seated and said a few words of welcome before he gave a hand signal and sat down again. The doors to the kitchen opened and a line of servants entered, carrying plates with appetizers and big flagons with wine and, thank goodness, water.

The feast had begun, and with it the probably longest evening in my entire life.

Had anyone thought of checking the food for poison?

...

**A/N: **So on a sidenote: Is it anywhere as hot as it is here? I have 32°C in my room right now and I'm positive I'm melting. So if there are no updates anymore that's because I'm a useless puddle on the floor. I better go drink something or else I'll dehydrate. Fun fact: The human body has no way of detecting of it is dehydrated or not, meaning that you could essentially die of it without noticing, well not exactly, there is still thirst but you could just drink a few sips and feel fine while your body is still lacking water.

That was totally irrelevant to this story but it's warm and I think my brain is liquid by now so whatever. See you next week my darlings ;)


	35. Declaration

The food was delicious, I could tell that much, but I couldn't really bring myself to taste what I put in my mouth. Maybe it was the tension of the situation, the feeling of sitting on a powder keg that could blow up any seconds, causing a sick feeling to coil in my stomach. Or maybe it was something deeper, the emptiness that lied even further down than the nausea that big black void that pulled in everything around it until there was nothing left.

I couldn't tell.

It didn't matter.

I went through the motions of eating, listening and sometimes answering to pleasant conversation, but I felt nothing of it. I had been born for this, for courtship and decadent banquets, for stuffing my belly with delicacies in the evening and decide over the fate of the country in the morning. I had been trained in this, prepared for this, groomed to be the representative of my family but all that skill and knowledge had dried out over the course of the last two years.

I had never felt as much as a stranger before.

The musicians had started playing, an unobtrusive joyful tune, wafting through the air, not loud enough to drown out the principle noise of the ongoing conversations but enough to obscure the words. It was pleasant, in a way, but at the same time it was grating on my nerves. It was exerting to keep going like this. I wanted to turn around and talk to Mathias, to just rest my hand against his chest and forget at least for a second that the world wasn't crumbling around me.

I had distracted myself for a time by listening to the mindless chatter of the lady next to me, the wife of some Lord whose name I couldn't remember. Her husband seemed to be relieved that she was talking to someone else for once, and albeit her voice was a bit too high pitched to be comfortable I idly listened in on her, while scanning the crowd for any sign of danger. But she fell silent eventually, after I had failed to respond to anything she had been saying and I was too occupied to pick up the conversation. I couldn't even remember what she had been saying.

I felt watched, but I couldn't pinpoint by whom. I knew it wasn't Mathias, his gaze was lighter, more like a caress, not the heavy burden of someone's eyes on me who had bad intentions. I kept looking around, as inconspicuously as possible, but whenever someone ducked away after I had caught his gaze, the pressure remained.

And slowly it was driving me crazy.

I was about to throw away any regard for protocol I might have had and turn around to talk to Mathias, to get him to find my watcher for me, but at precisely that instant the music rose into a crescendo, silencing the entire room at once. I was frozen in the middle of my turn, frozen in shock and surprise because for a moment I feared the music had risen for me, a reprimand for breaking protocol but then I realized that no one was looking at me. Instead the attention slowly focused on the Emperor, Yao who stood at his seat, chalice with deep red wine in his hands and smiling softly as he listened in on the music that, as quickly as it had risen, fell down into silence.

"It is a pleasure to have you all here tonight." Yao moved the hand that held the glass in a circular motion, indicating the whole room as he spoke. "We have been at war for so long that I almost forgot how pleasant informal get-togethers can be." His words were met with laughter and I somehow felt I was missing out on a joke. "But I don't want to dwell on that, there's enough time for that tomorrow. Now it's time for a toast."

I was transfixed on Yao, completely forgetting about what I was supposed to do but a soft tap on my shoulder and a mental nudge from Mathias reminded of it. I took my glass, filled with water, despite my craving for the oblivious embrace of alcohol, and raised it, but I was no longer watching Yao. I was watching the room, searching for something conspicuous, for a sign, any sign that something was amiss.

And then I saw it. It was minor, really, but in the midst of nobles with raised glasses in their hands, all compelled into watching the Emperor raise his glass in honor to history, one man who didn't play along was all the conspicuity it needed. He could have concealed his movements rather simply, he could have just raised his glass with all the others and he would have gone unnoticed, surrounded by his likes. But he didn't, and that made him stand out to me.

It was a stranger, at least to me. I might have seen him before, I couldn't remember. I couldn't even recall having seen him when I entered the dining hall. He was ordinary, a dressed up noble in the middle for dressed up nobles. And he was reaching under the table, reaching for something that was close to the floor, maybe in the shafts of his boots, and his eyes were glued to the Emperor's every move.

Every detail clicked into place all of a sudden, the way Arthur's gang had behaved completely inconspicuous the whole evening, this stranger who seemingly came out of nowhere and the room full of witnesses that could testimony that they had no hand in the assassination.

And he had a striking similarity to Tino.

It was brilliant in its own sickening twisted way. They had a scapegoat that was most likely not just a pawn, and the body of a scapegoat, already ready and prepared. The only variable in the quotation were we. And that left one very vital question, what would they do about us?

And then it hit me, a slap in the face, just like that. They didn't have to. They already had their men planted around the Emperor, ready to take over once he fell. I was sure that they had been very thorough, making sure that this assassin couldn't be traced back to them, and so couldn't the others who, I was now sure, were hidden among us. They just had to wait until one of them was successful and there was nothing we could do to stop them without risking a civil war. This whole elaborate plan they had been feeding me, it had only been a decoy.

All this raced through my brain on that very one moment. It was surreal almost, how time seemed to slow down, just so that I could have that revelation. And then everything slammed back into gear, the flow of time accelerating again until it seemed to go even faster.

I looked around the room frantically until my eyes met Ludwig's who at some point noticed that something was off. Mathias shifted behind me, I could feel the tension that built up in him. He must have noticed the same thing I did, but he couldn't act, not here, without my command. We would play right into their trap. I held Ludwig's gaze, for the shortest moment, making sure that he understood. Then I looked over, purposefully to the man who had gotten his hands on whatever it was he had reached for. Ludwig followed my gaze and for a terrifying second I feared that he didn't understand.

But then he moved, faster than I had expected, grabbing the knife he had used minutes ago to cut his steak and threw it in one swift motion. It would have been breathtaking, the efficiency with which he reacted, but the situation was too severe to appreciate it.

And then everything froze in one horrible still life as the room realized what just happened in its midst. The knife had hit the man straight in the chest, his hand was raised halfway up, frozen as was the look of mild surprise on his face.

I felt sick again all of a sudden.

He held a napkin.

Sometime during the chaos that ensued afterwards I caught Arthur's gaze and his lips curled into a knowing smile when he noticed. He inclined his head, almost as if he wanted to thank me. I wanted to throw up.

Ludwig actions, my actions, left Yao no choice. We could have explained it to him, most likely he already knew, but that wouldn't change a thing. There were too many witnesses, and although it didn't amount to treason, Ludwig had attacked and killed a guest. One of Yao's personally invited guests, even though it was clear that Yao himself had no idea who the man even was. But he had an invitation, one signed by Yao himself and that spoke loudly enough.

There was no choice, not in the face of ambassador Sadik Adnan who now had very good reason to question his safety inside the palace. And Ludwig was the one who would have to pay the price. I watched with shame and guilt as Ludwig was escorted out by the guards. He would get a comfortable cell, befit of his rank and status, but Gilbert wouldn't be as lucky. He hadn't done a thing but he belonged to Ludwig and that made him just as guilty.

I could do nothing but sit frozen in my chair, watching as my friends, yes at this point I was sure that they were, got escorted away to an unknown fate. As long as Yao was in reign Ludwig would only be imprisoned but I shuddered at the fate of Gilbert. And this was all my fault.

I found my hand clasped around the stem of a wineglass that had belonged to the chatty woman next to me, and I didn't interfere as my hand seemed to move on its own. The whiskey had helped, so surely, a river of wine would do the same? Around me was chaos, a protective circle of guards had formed around Yao but everywhere else there was fear and confusion, nobles standing in cluster, throwing glances at the Emperor and whispering among themselves.

And in the middle of it, almost like a secluded island, stood Arthur, surrounded by his allies, quietly talking, and even though all of my senses screamed at me that I had to do something, that this was a dangerous situation, I couldn't move. The wine tasted bittersweet on my tongue and I gulped it down all in one go, but it wasn't enough.

It would never be enough.

"Damn it, Lukas. Get yourself together." Mathias yanked the glass out of my hand and slammed it down on the table, breaking it in the process. What otherwise would have been an outrageous scandal – a dragon breaking precious Imperial tableware – now went unnoticed. And I was too stunned by the suddenness to react in any other way than staring dumbly at the glass shards.

"Come on Lukas." Mathias pushed at the chair until I faced him, then he knelt down in front of him, taking my hands in his and squeezing gently. Even though he tried his best to be careful, I could feel the tension in his grasp. He was a warrior, his every instinct must have screamed at him to get on fighting, but he couldn't, not with me in this derailed state. "Look at me." He commanded, and I obeyed, sinking myself into the warmth of his gaze.

"I don't know what to do." My voice sounded hollow, defeated. And strangely, that made me angry. "We can't just let them do this."

"We won't. I promise, we will stop them. But we have to get moving to do so." Mathias pressed my hands, still gentle, still with underlying tension. "This is it, you get that? This is the decoy, they will strike, when no one is expecting it. I don't know where the others are, so we have to do something." Mathias lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on my knuckles. "Can you do that?"

It was maybe a bit strange, to sit here in the midst of a storm and enjoy this moment of calm. As fleeting as it had to be.

I took a deep breath, forcing myself back into focus before I squeezed his hand once. "Yes." It would be hard, of course it would be, but I had known that before. We all had known that there would be risk, that some of us might not return alive, and as hard as it was to expect that I had screwed up, I had to go on. I couldn't give up before I hadn't at least tried.

The room had been flooded with guards in the meantime, one half to prevent any further assassination attempts and to reassure the guests of their safety, the other half most likely to thwart any resistance. Yao was still surrounded by his personal guard, but I noticed Lord Kiku approaching him, bowing politely before engaging in conversation. This was troublesome, Lord Kiku was a supporter of Arthur, who knew, maybe he was even their leader, but Yao couldn't do anything without openly offending his courtier.

But before I could do anything, Mathias whipped around, bringing himself between me and the person that had approached unnoticed. "Hello Lord Bondevik." Arthur drawled, smirking in the most infuriating way and dipping his head as if in mock greeting, Francis trailing behind, an unreadable expression on his face.

Suddenly I wished the glass of wine back so that I could smash it in his face.

"You bastard." Mathias growled and took a step forward, bringing himself into Arthur's personal space.

Arthur 'tsk'ed and swept his gaze once over Mathias with a disapproving scowl. "Lord Bondevik, it would be well advised of you to call your pet back." He spoke past Mathias, ignoring his presence as if he were an unwelcome stain of food sauce on his jacket. Mathis bristled and for a moment the muscles on his back tensed, poised for attack, but then he deflated, like all the air had been pulled from his lungs.

The worst was that part of me wanted him to break protocol and attack Arthur. Hell, I wanted to do it myself. But Mathias was too cautious, too careful to slip up like that. I couldn't help but wonder when he had become like this, so prudent about his actions and how they reflected upon me.

Mathias stepped back, but he kept himself between Arthur and me, albeit conscious of the line of sight between us. Arthur smiled, all gentleman-like but he still didn't pay Mathias any mind. He was all focused on me.

"I wanted to thank you myself." He seemed to nearly bob on his feet in silent exhilaration. Honestly, the joy that radiated off him was almost tangible. It made my stomach churn and I was glad for the barrier of Mathias in front of me, or else I might have actually jumped Arthur. "You have been a marvelous accessory to our plans." He even had the audacity to imitate a bow.

I could feel Mathias helpless rage, coursing through our bond, his every instinct urging him to attack, to rip Arthur apart, but the amount of restraint, the sheer lack of any consideration to act on his urges was more than I could take. I had never intended for Mathias to become so meek, and yet it had happened, it had been like this for months at least and I simply didn't notice.

It was yet another thing on the list of my failures.

It was enough.

"Do you think we will just let you do as you please?" I spat out, putting as much hatred as possible into my stare as I bore my eyes into Arthur's.

"Oh no, not at all. I actually think that you will think of another little scheme to amuse me. But that is nothing but child's play. Oh, but good work on Ivan though. How did you know I wanted to dispose of him anyway?" Arthur's words filled me with a burning rage that was all too familiar. But that familiarity was it that allowed me to pull back, to not give in into the fury that was boiling up inside of me.

I had started on that path, I didn't need to see the end.

With an immeasurable amount of willpower I managed to calm myself and give an answer that was not scathing with pure hatred. "You killed my parents." It was not a question, not anymore. He might have not done it directly, but he certainly was behind it. "Why?" But even then I still needed to know the reason.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, and their ridiculous enormity only added to the effect. "They were in the way." He shrugged dismissively as if the topic was already boring him. Something on my face must have given my feelings away, because he continued: "What? You thought there was some kind of elaborate reason? Well, sorry to disappoint. But don't worry, Tino didn't die in vain. He died because I couldn't kill you."

He was halfway turning around, about to take his leave after properly gloating about his triumph in front of him when I finally found my voice again. "You will die for this." I held Arthur's gaze for a few moment, steady, this time without any emotion. "I will make sure of that." Not revenge, not this time. Just a necessary evil to end this once and for all.

And it was a promise.

Arthur smiled, but it was wavering, just the slightest bit. My words had shaken his confidence. "We shall see about that." He replied, casting one glance over to Mathias, but this time with a hint of apprehension.

I watched as walked away, Francis trailing behind him, strangely subdued as he followed his master to where Lord Kiku was waiting, ever so patiently.

"It's time for a hunt." I said into the silence that had ensued, voice inflected with grave importance even though I felt an odd clarity for maybe the first time in years. I knew what I had to do, not just that, but also how to do it. "This will end now." For once and for all.

I would make sure of that.

_We_ would make sure of that.

...


	36. Downfall

**A/N: **A short heads up; I'm currently writing the story of how Roderich and Elizaveta met, but it will probably take a while until I'm finished. But I'm on it and it will be done eventually. Until then, have fun with this chapter my darlings ;)

* * *

Eventually Yao was escorted out of the great hall by his Personal Guard, the palace guards making sure that no one else left the room until the Emperor was safe back in his rooms. Lord Soo stayed behind and made an attempt on calming the agitated atmosphere, but the explanation he provided for what happened was threadbare at best.

Yao could have, of course, have him present a much more believable story, but he tried to take as much of the blame from Ludwig as possible. I only feared it didn't work as well as he intended. But that was a problem I would have to face later.

I couldn't leave the room until the guards had cleared the entrance, but so couldn't the others. But even I was aware that it would be stupid to assume that there wouldn't be one or more likely, a few, assassins waiting outside. And since I didn't know if Berwald and/or Vash were outside, I had to make sure to be there myself.

Which meant I had to sneak past the guards. Without anyone noticing, preferably. Thank goodness, I had a plan.

It had been a long shot, at best, but thankfully Mathias magical batteries had recharged enough from his self-healing to provide a bit of distraction. And while the entire room was focused on the piece of tapestry that had randomly caught fire, I dashed past the guards that stood in front of the door, closely followed by Mathias.

It was not nearly as smooth as I would have preferred, and I was sure that our escape hadn't gone entirely unnoticed, but I couldn't bother with that, right now.

We ran down the corridors, where, hopefully, the Emperor had passed through only moments ago. He had been accompanied by his personal guard who were loyal as far as I knew, but I had seen Lord Kiku leaving with him. And that couldn't be good. At least Yao knew that Lord Kiku was a traitor so he wouldn't be completely unprepared.

I just dashed around a corner when I heard someone call my name. I skidded to an abrupt halt, hands dragging over the walls to slow my movement. Mathias almost ran into me, but he managed to stop just close before impact.

"What happened?" Vash had emerged from one of the side corridors, Berwald close behind and I was never more glad to see them than I was now.

"No time to explain. You need to get to the great hall and keep an eye on Arthur. We got Yao covered." I yelled and waved frantically, Mathias took my cue and continued his way, not waiting for me to catch up.

"Go." I yelled again, before I pushed myself from the wall and followed after Mathias, not waiting to make sure that the other two did as I had told them. Retreating footsteps seemed to hint as much though.

Mathias waited for me at the corner in front of the entrance to Yao's private chambers, a worried look on his face. "The place is guarded." He whispered once I was close enough. "And not by the good kind of guards." I dared to peek around the corner, and realized that he was right. There were four guards, instead of the usual two guards, posted in front of the doors. That in itself wouldn't be unusual, considering the situation, but I recognized at least one of them as a guard that had been with Arthur on the day they came for us.

I cursed low under my breath. A decoy like the one before wouldn't work here, we couldn't really set part of the palace on fire. Not to mention that Mathias was rather low on juice right now. "I don't suppose you brought a weapon?" I asked, perfectly aware that there was not much chance of there to be a positive answer.

"Unfortunately not." Mathias said, back pressed against the wall while keeping an eye on the guards. "But we have to get in there anyway."

"Do you have a plan?"

Mathias suddenly turned around and grabbed my face, pulling me into a deep, breathless kiss that seemed to last forever. "Nope." He whispered against the corner of my mouth and before I could really register what was going on he had already released me and stepped around the corner.

"Hello Boys." He greeted the guards almost cheerfully as he rounded the corner. I was stunned for a second, both by the kiss and Mathias' brashness, but the sounds of fighting that followed Mathias' little stunt quickly shook me out of it. There was a sharp exclamation of pain and then the sound of a dropping body, and I wished, for maybe the hundredth time, that I had a weapon.

I finally gathered enough courage to hazard a look around the corner, it was not that I was afraid for Mathias, I knew him well enough that he could handle himself especially with the surprise moment on his side, otherwise he would never take on such a dangerous risk, but I felt a certain trepidation as to what would face me when I finally looked.

Lots of blood and gore apparently.

I tended to forget just what a beast Mathias could be, even in human form, and since I had removed the last of the curses he had nothing, literally nothing, that inhibited him. Aside from good old common sense, which he had developed at some point of our relationship, but tended to toss out of the window on occasions like this. I would be intimidated, had I not know for absolute sure that he would never hurt me. At another time I might have mused just how far we both had come from our initial relationship to what we were now, but seeing that we were running out of time, I had better things to do.

Mathias was splattered with blood, and as much as I liked to say that none of it was his own, after a quick assessment I noted that at least some of it originated from the two deep cuts on his torso and what seemed to be a stab wound in his right arm. At least we had weapons now, the question was how far I would come with my mostly training for show fencing.

I should have felt bad about the slaughter, but the prominent part of me that demanded revenge for Tino and Elizaveta, the dark part at the moment, felt satisfaction at the sight. But I couldn't dwell on that, wouldn't dwell on that, so I simply stepped over the puddle of blood on the floor and positioned myself behind Mathias as he made ready to open the door.

I had taken one of the sabers the guards had carried and gripped the hilt tight as Mathias forced open the door. Whatever I had expected, resistance, a fight, a massacre, none of it greeted us in the empty room that awaited us only with silence. It didn't have to mean anything, they could be in one of the back, more private, rooms, but somehow I knew that this wasn't the case.

Mathias must have had the same thought, because he didn't lose a second in charging in, bursting through the next door, and the next, but I didn't need to follow to know that all rooms were empty. They were not here. The guards had only been a decoy, a distraction that had worked only too well.

And I had no idea where they could have gone.

"They're not here." Mathias came back, eyes wide and panting, and that more than anything, showed me how screwed we really were.

"Where could they have gone?" I paced in a tight circle, trying to get my mind into gear to figure this out. They had to be in the palace somewhere, but wherever they went, they either had to trick Yao into going there, or forced him there, overpowering his guards in the process.

Another thought hit me, and I stopped my pacing mid step. What if they were in on it? What if the guards were on Arthur's side and willingly led their Emperor into a trap. "If you wanted to kill the Emperor without hindrance, undisturbed without leaving any trace, where would you do it?"

I watched closely as the realization dawned on Mathias. It was pretty obvious once I had phrased it like this. There was really only one place they could have gone.

"The North Tower."

The moment the words were out we were moving again, out of the room and down the corridor. I couldn't say that I felt thrilled about going to where Tino had died but right now that was of lesser importance.

The tower could only be accessed from the outside, over a part of the outer palace wall. It was the perfect place, it could be defended by a small group of people, well that was if the attack would come through the door. But the tower being outside had one big advantage that we wouldn't pass on.

When we reached the door that led to the outer wall I stayed before while Mathias ran outside until he was in the middle of it. There were no guards outside, another sign that something was terribly wrong. I only hoped that we wouldn't be too late. Maybe subtlety would have been a wiser choice but it would have been impossible to sneak into the tower, not now, while they would make extra sure to keep their eyes open.

Mathias stepped out of his pants but didn't bother with his shirt. It was the fastest transformation I had ever seen him do, it was not as fast as the one Ivan had demonstrated but it came close. The ground vibrated under my feet as the giant dragon dug his claws into the century old stone and roared his challenge out into the night air.

The palace was old, built in a time when wars were fought entirely on the back of dragons, the stone was reinforced, and even though the magic had long since bled out, a bit of residue was still left, making the tower extra resilient. But time had worn on the magic and the structure, enough for Mathias to break through the entrance.

I retreated further back into the relative safety of the palace as Ember hooked his claws into the stone that held the door, wings stretched out far to balance him as he tried to find the leverage he needed. It wouldn't be long now until we got company, both the good and the bad, we needed to hurry.

Ember's tail whipped through the air and finally wrapped around one of the stone battlements, his hind legs ground into the stone as he pulled away from the tower. The ground shook again and stone dust trickled down, even as far away as stood. And then, just as the stone seemed to give way, an answer to Mathias' earlier challenge was issued.

A shadow uncurled from the back of the tower and then the form of a lean white dragon, specked with red and blue shot up into the air. Ember roared again, spitting a thin lance of flame after his opponent but missed him by more than a few yards as the other spiraled upwards to get into attack position.

The other dragon was smaller and in every other case I would have bet blindly on Ember, but he was drained, using magic in human form was always difficult and he was still occupied with breaking the door open. And the other had already secured an advance in position by flying up above Ember.

Ember stretched his wings, flapping them with renewed vigor in another attempt to open the door before the other could thwart his efforts. The strange dragon roared, his shadow passing over the doorway where I was hiding and then the sight in front of me was suddenly obscured by bright orange flames. I quickly ducked back behind the relative safety of the doorframe, but the heat that surged in was enough to singe not only my eyebrows.

Only when the heat subsided did I dare to look out again, only to see Ember still clawing at the tower wall, mostly unfazed by the attack but the fury with which he pulled had at least doubled. The other dragon had realized that his flames were not strong enough to harm a dragon of Ember's caliber, forcing him to change his tactic.

He circled up into the air again, dodging Ember's swiping tail and roaring in unbridled fury as his opponent refused to pay him any more attention than he did. But Ember was close, another furious whip of wings, causing small pebbles and more stone dust to rain down on me, and then with a groan that seemed to echo through the very bowels of the old building the door broke out of its stone bedding.

Ember roared his triumph into the sky, using the momentum he had just created to turn around, door still trapped between his claws to finally face his opponent. The unfamiliar dragon had gained attack height in the mean time, for a moment he stood in the air like a hawk searching for prey, but the moment Ember turned he dropped, wings pulled back to accelerate his dive.

I instinctively pressed my eyes shut as the two dragons collided, but the sound of screeching metal caused me to snap back my attention. Ember had blocked the attack with the door, the other's claws had ripped into the metal but he was stuck now, wings flapping desperately to get back up but Ember held on to the now deformed metal frame, tail curled around a battlement again and hind legs buried into the ground.

I was frozen for a moment, in utter and complete shock, but then I felt a mental nudge, urging me to go, now that there was a temporary reprieve in the battle.

It was madness. The part of the wall in front of me was blocked by two giant dragons, snapping at each other with their knife long teeth, drawing blood, even through the thick layer of scales, but I had no choice, I needed to get in there. I was vaguely aware of people filling the corridor behind me, but so far they were too intimidated to come any closer, it would be only a matter of time though before the winged guard would be in the air.

Yao was about the only one who could diffuse this situation, but to reach him I had to get past the fighting dragons. I gulped, bracing myself, but really, there was nothing I could have done to make this any less dangerous and insane. I could only hope for the best.

Ember had pushed his opponent halfway from the wall but the other clung stubbornly to the side, he had managed to free one of his legs but the other was still stuck. I dodged a flailing tail and stumbled over a lose stone on the floor, scraping the palms of my hands as I caught my fall in the last second. And then there was fire in the air again, I couldn't tell from whom but it didn't really matter. I scrambled back up, keeping as close to the ground as possible as I tried to stay out of fire' s way but at least part of my clothing didn't make it.

Something cracked and the whole structure shook violently, just as I passed through the broken gate, but I didn't bother to look back to check what happened. There was no time for that. The antechamber of the tower was empty, but there was no other way out, and the emerging dragon had been proof enough that they were, indeed, here.

I wouldn't have to worry about anyone escaping through the front door, not with the chaos out there still raging on, but then again there was not much chance of me chasing out anyone anyway. I didn't have a choice however.

There was a spiral staircase leading upwards, disappearing into the next level. I pulled the saber from my belt where I had stuffed it earlier. It felt strange to hold a weapon in my hand after all this time, but the weight felt familiar, it was a comfort almost, while everything around me was slowly crumbling apart.

The building shook again, followed by another roar from outside. I didn't need any more incentive, time was running out. The first floor was empty too, but there was a door at the far wall with a small window that had bars in front of it. I refused to think that this was where Tino might have been kept, and instead continued my way up. The next two floors were the same but when I reached the fourth floor, I could hear voices wafting down from the room above. I paused, a few steps down under the passage, trying my best to listen in on the conversation that was going on.

"This changes nothing, they will have them put down soon enough." I couldn't place the voice at first but then I recognized it as Lord Kiku's. His voice had the usual calm, almost bored tone, but underlying there was a hint of anger.

"Yes they will, Al along with them, but _you_ don't care about that." Matthew's voice stood in stark contrast to Kiku's, there was no attempt whatsoever to hide the anger in this one. And with that the question where Matthew and Alfred had ended up was finally answered, albeit I had to say I hadn't expected them to be dragons. Or maybe only Al was, or else Matthew would be out there with him.

"How did it even end in this mess? Arthur had everything worked out just fine, and now what?" Matthew was yelling now, but it seemed to be more panic than real anger.

"There's no need to worry", Kiku insisted, "the guard will settle the dispute outside and we will continue with our plan."

"_Dispute?"_ Is that what you're calling it?" There was a sharp sound, like skin on stone, followed by a pained grunt. Matthew must have hit the wall in his frustration.

"Dammit Kiku! Why d'you have to change plans last minute? This is all your fault."

"It needed to be done, there were complications." Now there was agitation clearly audible in Kiku's voice.

"Oh fuck that, fuck your complications, Al's dying out there, to buy us time to find your stupit escape tunnel, and now you're telling me it's not here? Are you fucking kidding me? Wasn't Ivan's death enough for you? Stick to the damn plan, that was all we needed from you and you screwed up."

"I didn't screw up. I couldn't know that the tunnel had been closed off."

"You could have checked it beforehand you know? Secure _all_ escape routes. Or maybe you could have just done what you were told, then we wouldn't even be in this situation? Do you fucking see that, the whole damn tower is about to collapse because of this damn monster."

"Don't talk to me like that." Kiku hissed, all polite pretense dropped as he rounded on Matthew. "I'd like to remind you of your status, _boy_. This was never your plan, and stop throwing your precious Arthur in my face. You were just pawns, you always have been and this has always been the place we were supposed to end up, isn't that right master?."

There was a stunned silence after that. One could have heard a hair drop on the floor as Matthew tried to make sense of the bomb that had just been dropped on him. And then another voice spoke up, and the blood froze in my veins as I realized the mistake I had made all along.

"That's enough now, I believe we have a visitor."

It was Yao.

...


	37. Bottom

There was no mistaking, both the voice and who it was referring to. The tower had grown deadly silent, even the fight outside seemed to have stopped, or maybe the dragons had just relocated.

"Won't you come up and join us, Lukas? Have your parent never taught you eavesdropping is rude." My grip tensed around the handle of my saber as I walked up the last few steps, through the hole in the floor into the room above. Three pairs of eyes locked on me and I felt exposed like I had never before in my life.

Yao stood the farthest from me, close to the wall, arms folded in front of his chest as he watched me with cool calculation. Kiku stood a few feet away from him, his seemingly soulless eyes trained on me as he carried his usual polite smile, that only this time, appeared more sinister than anything. Matthew at last stood closest to me, his hands were balled into fists at his side and he shook with barely suppressed rage.

Strangely though, despite Matthew being apparently close to exploding, his rage seemed helpless and the by far most dangerous aura came from Yao. I had never seen him with this expression of cold indifference, and it made my insides squirm in something akin to fear.

It wasn't the expression per se, it was the difference, the difference to what I had come to believe was his real self, a kind ruler who wanted the best for his people, who wanted to end this war to finally settle peace in his lands. This person before me now was someone entirely different.

"You took your sweet time Lukas, I expected you much earlier." Yao greeted me, but the smile accompanying his words didn't reach his eyes.

"What is going on?" I asked, noticeable strain in my voice, but even though my question sounded kind of dumb, I couldn't help but ask. The tower shook again, as something huge slammed against its side, and a loud scream tore through the air, but neither of us dared to look which dragon it had been.

"You haven't figured it out? It should be obvious from this getup here." Yao made a wide sweeping gesture with his hand, encompassing the room and its occupants but I was more perturbed by the obvious disappointment in his voice. He seemed genuinely so, as if he had expected, no counted on me to figure it out.

"You lied." I said, eyes darting between Kiku and Yao, Matthew, for the time being, didn't appear to be much if a threat.

Yao just shrugged. "Is that all?"

I remembered the day when Yao invited me to tea and cake, how genuinely concerned he seemed about me, about the country and its future. Somehow I couldn't believe that this was the same person I had so readily offered my trust to. Hell I had basically eaten from his hand, not even checking what it was that he had been feeding me.

I felt a wave of anger rising in my gut, and I wanted to drive my sword through Yao's still smiling visage. But mostly I was angry at myself, that I didn't see through it, that I let myself be fooled, because I _wanted_ to believe that at least one of all those court snakes was an honest person. After all the betrayal I had gone through I had still stepped into the next one as easily as a sheep that followed its butcher.

"You planned all this, you fooled all of us, even Arthur and his friends, just to rub it in my face? And what about Ludwig? Was he in on it too, did you tell him to create a diversion so that you could set your precious little plan in motion?" My voice had gradually risen while I was speaking, until I was nearly shouting at the end, saber pointing accusingly at Yao's chest.

"Ah, you're worried about Ludwig's loyalty? How utterly heart-warming. Don't worry, not everyone betrayed you. Well, he might as well have anyway. I counted on you to create a scene, but what Ludwig provided was marvelous. I couldn't have planned it better."

I gritted my teeth, the condescending tone of Yao's voice was almost enough to make me snap.

"What about Tino, was that part of your plan too?" I noticed out of the corner of my eyes how Matthew flinched at my words, almost as if he felt guilty about it. But that, of course, was impossible.

Yao shrugged, a dismissive gesture that only added to the fury currently boiling in my veins. "It wasn't part of _my_ plans, but I decided to let Arthur have the illusion of free will, so I let him play around. Now, would you have the courtesy to take your toothpick out of my face? That's quite rude."

I trembled with rage, but I could hold out my arm only so long without getting tired, so I reluctantly lowered my arm into a defensive position. Even though I was the only one with an obvious weapon in the room, I felt strangely overwhelmed, as if I was, by far, the weakest link in the chain.

"See, that's better." Yao seemed pleased. "Now, isn't there a question you are dying to ask?"

For a moment I didn't know what he was referring to, but really, there was just one thing I desperately wanted to know at this point. "Why?" I hated how my vice trembled, how it betrayed my emotions, but there was nothing I could do about that. I had been on edge for so long now, that it was finally taking its toll.

"I'd like to know that too." Matthew spoke up for the first time since I entered the room. Much of his anger had subsided, though, leaving behind only tired resignation.

Yao opened his mouth to answer, but he was interrupted by a deafening scream from outside, followed by an even louder roar. "The cavalry has arrived." Yao concluded, clapping his hands together as if that was exactly the cue he had been waiting for.

I needed a moment to process the information, my brain had a hard time keeping up with all the new information, but the instant I realized what Yao's words meant and in two quick steps I was at the small window next to Matthew. A rectangular of crystal blue sky greeted me, not a cloud in sight, but then a giant shadow flew past, one I barely identified as Ember, and then three slightly smaller shadows entered from my periphery, fanning out in the air to tail behind the fleeing dragon. I suddenly felt sick to my gut.

"Which one did they get?" Yao asked from behind, with some sort of idle curiosity. "Judging by the scream, one of yours just bit the dust." Before I could answer I was tackled out of the way and Matthew's finger dug into the stone opening. He jumped to try and get a better look, yelling on the top of his lungs that sounded like 'Liberty'.

The three dragons, I had only seen them for a short amount of time, and it was hard to tell with their speed, but there was really only one thing their presence could mean. The Imperial Talons, a group of specially trained Dragon Tamers, functioning as a manifestation of the Emperor's will. Only as far as I knew they had been stationed at the border to overlook the fighting. But now they were here, chasing after Ember, and as sure I was that he could take on almost every opponent, I could only doubt when it came to Talons, three of them at that.

I turned around to face Yao, who had now been joined by Kiku standing at his right and who was still smiling his cold little smile. "You bastard." I grit out between clenched teeth, hands white knuckling around the hilt of my sword, and I was almost overwhelmed by the urge to kill the two of them on the spot. "What have you done?"

"You didn't think you could play around forever, did you?" And just like that, all the false pretense of friendliness was dropped and the cold from Yao's eyes had migrated to the rest of his body, making him seem more like a stone statue than a human. "It was quite entertaining, I'll admit that, but enough is enough. You mortals, always busy with meddling and sticking your nose where it doesn't belong and then coming to me crying when you burnt your curious little nose."

The shadows in the tower room seemed to grow with every one of Yao's words, as did the menace that radiated from his body. I felt a cold shiver of pure, unadulterated dread rise in my core and I had to grip my word even tighter in order to not just drop it in terror.

"I have waited an eternity for this, you have no idea, all the preparations, the tiny details, the _patience_, just to get you here. It is ridiculous; really, how a meager human like you, could ever rise to such importance, but here you are, holding the key, without even knowing it."

Involuntarily, I took a step backwards. Yao's words didn't make any sense, but the threat in them, the sheer presence he suddenly had developed was almost enough to make me flinch. And still I couldn't wrap my mind around what his words implied. I had known, through mostly guessing, that he was quite older than his physical looks would suggest, but to have it spelled put like this, having him separate himself from us mortals by insinuating that he was, indeed, _immortal_, was frightening in its very own way.

And not to forget that I had not the slightest idea what key he was referring to.

"What do you mean?" I demanded to know, voice growing more and more urgent as the sounds from the battle outside wafted in. I wanted nothing more than to regain my spot at the window, but I felt that this was infinitively more important than anything that was going on outside. Matthew had returned his focus on the conversation, he was pale and there were distinct tears glistening in his eyes, but the predominant emotion seemed to be anger, evident in the trickle of red, stemming from his bitten lip.

"You're special." Yao conceded, nodding his head to Kiku once, before he turned his back on me to walk over to a small table I hadn't noticed up until now. I didn't get to see what he was doing over there though, because an invisible force slammed me into the nearest wall.

I groaned, stars dancing in front of my eyes, and I hoped, oh god I hoped, that I didn't get another concussion. Only when the pain in my head subsided did I see the source of power, a sigil drawn on a sheet of parchment, in something that was too red to be coincidence. It seemed Kiku had the scroll hidden in his sleeve and finished the sigil just now with a drop of his own blood.

Blood magic was not uncommon, most dragon magic was basically drawn from their blood, but for a human to use it with such ease was unusual. I tried to free myself, but the invisible bonds kept me firmly in place, I couldn't even loosen the effect a bit. The saber had been knocked out of my hand and was lying uselessly on the ground.

"It's time to sleep now, Mr. Williams." Kiku said, with an almost sickening friendliness to his voice and he raised his still bloodied thumb and pressed it against Matthew's temple, utilizing the shock the other had fallen in to bypass any possible resistance. Matthew's eyes rolled back into his head and he dropped down like a sac of rice.

"Let me go." I growled, increasing my struggle, just as the fighting sounds from outside grew in volume. It was a relief to know that Ember was still up and fighting, but at the same time, I knew that with every passing second his strength would wane, and eventually he would fall prey to his enemies. I would have wished for him to escape, flee as far away as possible, but I knew he wouldn't leave me, he would always come back for me.

"We can't do that." Yao said, still back to me, busy with whatever it was that he was doing. I strained my neck, but I wasn't able to see past his shoulders to get a look at the table. "Do you know how long I have waited for this? How long I have been trapped in this feeble body, to wait, hundreds and hundreds of years for _you_ to show up?" Yao finally turned around again, his eyes glowing with a faint red as he glared at me accusingly.

I swallowed hard, there was a lump in my throat that made it hard to breathe as the sudden revelation hit me. "You're a dragon." Something flashed through Yao's eyes, a shade of gold and then the red was dimming down to his usual dark brown.

"Not just any dragon, _the_ dragon. I was the first, and as it now seems also the last true dragon. I have roamed the skies for millennia, undefeated and scarcely challenged until I was cursed by a witch and forced into human flesh to _serve_ her. Me! Serving a puny human, can you imagine the insolence?

"She got what she deserved, that little bitch, I had patience, I waited, and finally she made a mistake, left a loophole in an order and I turned on her and killed her, ripping her heart out and watch her dying eyes as I devoured it in front of her.

"Oh but she was good, her death wasn't enough to lift the spell, I was still bound in this form and would be until all eternity. But I refused to be defeated this easily, I spent years with research, I kempt through every corner of the world, I even became the Emperor of this stupid little country that I once had represented in war, just to get my hands on you. Because you carry her blood, you mated the dragon whose blood she used to bind me, you carry his mark, and your blood will release me."

All the information swirled around in my head, as I desperately tried to grasp at their meaning. And from somewhere deep in my memory, a story rose, a story that Mathias had told me, the story of his birth and his capture, the story of his downfall. And with the story came name, the author of the strange old book that had let me to Mathias in the first place, the woman who had imprisoned him underneath the estate, and the woman who had left a door open, despite her words. She must have been more powerful than even Mathias realized.

"Freydis." It came out as nothing more than a breath, but the effect it had on Yao was instantaneous. His face contorted into a grimace, teeth bared in a hiss and eyes glowing scarlet red again. But as quick as he had lost control over his features, he had it back again, smoothing over into another one of his false smiles.

"Can you see now the length I had to go to, just to get you here? I needed to wait thousand years just for the spell on Ember's prison to lift and then I had to manipulate the circumstances for someone to free him. And it couldn't just be anyone, no, Ember wouldn't accept anyone as his mate, and even with you I was taking a gamble."

I felt a cold wave of rage wash over me at his words. He had implied, not only implied but openly admitted to having staged the killing of my parents, _along with everything that preceded and followed it._

"Why the effort?" I spat, hands balled into useless fists as they were outstretched and bound to the wall. "Why the rebellion, why the two year wait? Why not just kill my parents and then kill me the moment I freed Ember?" _Why did you even bother with all the additional deaths?_

"I know what you want to hear. That this, too, was part of some kind of elaborate plan, that I had a good _reason_ for all the extracurricular activities, but the truth is, I didn't. I just wanted to make sure that this country, no, this world falls apart when I'm done. The war, as long as it had been going on, had burnt itself out, a few more years and we would have peace. My advisors were yapping at me to end it, to allow peace, so I decided to rekindle the flame. For me that counts as a good reason, but for you I suppose… not."

I grit my teeth, doubling my effort to break free, but all I achieved was a hateful glower in Yao's direction, and a straining of muscles in my arms. Still I couldn't fight of the slight suspicion that Yao's words were more than a bit delusional. Sure, after waiting a millennia, two more years shouldn't matter much, but somehow I felt that Yao wasn't that patient anymore.

"Oh don't pull that face on me. You know I could have been so much worse. I have been Emperor for centuries, and I have left you humans live mostly undisturbed. You should thank me for my mercy, I could have wiped you all from the face of the earth."

I couldn't help it, I snorted. It was a humorless, sardonic sound, that came more out like sharp puff of breath, but I really didn't care. "You wish. As I see it, you're powerless, aside from what little political power you managed to retain. You had to upstage this rebellion, you _had to_, because _you_ had no other way of reaching me. You had to orchestrate this whole _elaborate_ plan, just to get me here today. And you needed him." I jerked my head in Kiku's direction, "to get me confined. You did nothing of it yourself, because you can't do a thing."

"Don't mock me." Yao hissed, eyes growing impossibly red for the third time, and I even spied two sharp canines as he spoke. "I can still crush you under my heel like an insect." Kiku made a step forward, seemingly alert suddenly, but he immediately stopped as Yao shot him a glare.

"Is that so?" I had given up on breaking free of my bonds; instead I focused all of my rage and anger into taunting Yao. "So why is it that everything you have done so far is talking?" I had barely time to register that he was moving, before Yao's fist connected solidly with my jar, knocking my head back against the wall.

"Don't. Mock. Me." Yao growled, as his finger dug in my freshly bruised jar, but I refused to back down. My resistance was fueled by despair, with every passing second the likeability of Ember's defeat, and so far I had no plan whatsoever on how I would get out if here unscathed.

"What are you gonna do to me, huh? Hit me again while I'm defenseless? Has being human made you weak?" Yao's response was immediate, and I had to fight off another wave of dizziness as I recovered from the next close encounter my head had made with the wall.

"Mr. Wang, please don't damage the specimen." Kiku's polite voice sounded completely out if place, in the middle of the carnage that was my ringing head. And even more strangely, Yao released me almost instantly, taking a few steps backwards and pulling over his smooth mask again.

"We should proceed with the extraction." Kiku suggested, his politeness doing nothing to mask the obvious enormity of his statement.

My head still hurt, but even in my dazed state I realized that 'extraction' couldn't possibly mean anything good.

...


	38. Blood

There was a scream, one never ending blood curdling scream, grating on my mind's edges, nerves curling, like nails dragging over a chalk board. It was unnerving and no matter how much I tried I couldn't block it out. The world was eerily dark, not like behind closed eyelids but with a grey tinge to it, blotches of muted color danced in front of my eyes but I couldn't focus on anything.

My throat felt rough and dried out, as if I had chocked down sand and somehow I had difficulties to breathe. The scream ended abruptly when I forced in a labored breath, and it took another few seconds until I realized that I had been screaming.

With the realization came the pain, it had been there the whole time, but my consciousness had blocked it out mostly. And then I screamed again, the sound felt like sandpaper on my throat and the grey world in front of my eyes blurred even more.

This time the scream chocked down almost immediately after it had started, I didn't have enough air to sustain it and soon I was gasping again, like a fish out of water. And that was exactly how I felt, helpless, like a fish caught and tossed onto dry land, wriggling and gasping desperately but the saving water was nowhere near in range.

I was vaguely aware of still being suspended against the wall by invisible bonds and that something was terribly, terribly wrong, but my memories about how I actually ended up there were more than hazy. I recalled a conversation, a battle, but no, I wasn't the one who fought it, a revelation, and then pain, immense pain, and I still didn't remember why.

My body was on fire. The only reason I was still sure that I had arms and legs was because the pain I felt was too widespread to just center on my torso. It was everywhere, my blood was pulsing with it, and everything seemed to originate from one single point in my shoulder. Or my toes, I wasn't too sure on that.

I was still screaming but there was no sound, just a dry gasp, the echo cutting through the pain in my mind. The pain eased eventually, until it was a faint pulse underneath my skin, a throbbing that was dull enough to temporarily ignore. The haze in front of my eyes cleared and I could make out shapes again, and slowly, ever so slowly, my mind caught up on what was happening.

_Extraction_.

I had been right, it wasn't anything pleasant, but I never expected it to be _this._

Yao had taken a long injection needle from the table and injected something into me, I remembered the anxiety and fear I felt at the sight of the thick yellow liquid, and I had only paid half attention to what had been said. It wasn't my first injection, the pain of the needle had been bearable, despite its thickness, and afterwards I felt only a little sore at the spot under my collar bone.

At first it had felt cool, almost soothing, and then a numb feeling had spread from the injection spot. I remembered Yao's finger in my hair as he pushed the strands back, his hands cold on my skin as he explained to me what he was about to do. There had been a numbing veil on my mind and I had only half understood that he needed to dilute my blood, and that it was going to be painful, hence the tranquilizer, but when he pressed his mouth over the wound and did _something_, my whole world blacked out in agony.

I blinked a few times to get the image clearer but the sight that greeted me would have made me double over, hadn't it been for the restricting magic. A long tube ran from my clavicle to a container on the ground, a container filled with what looked like blood, only it had a sickening pale hue to it.

"Sorry about that." I snapped my attention from the container to Yao who leaned idly against the wall, arms crossed as he idly tapped his fingers against his forearm. "I haven't used that in a while, forgot how painful it is."

I wanted to say something, ask what this was all about, but my voice came only out as a dry whisper. My throat was burning and I craved for water.

"Your blood needs processing, I had to pull out the effect of the mark. You can think of it as an antibody-antigen reaction. Ember's magic reacted to my saliva, and now your blood is all potent and ready."

I looked down again to where tube was wedged under my skin, held in place by two clamps that bit painfully in my skin, right where the four parallel claw marks were that Mathias had left there such a long time ago. The container was almost full, and I wondered how much more it would take for me to die of blood loss, it already seemed too much, and if my wooziness was anything to go by, I was close. But that could have been the effect of the tranquilizer.

"Why do you need so much?" I asked, voice barely audible above the scraping of my throat, but I forced the sounds out anyway.

"Because its complex magic." Yao said solemnly and gestured to the side, where Kiku was patiently waiting. As far as I could see, Matthew was still knocked out on the floor underneath the window "Complex magic needs a lot of blood, but don't worry, Ember's magic is protecting you, so far. His words alerted me to the silence that had grown outside, the sounds of fighting from earlier had stopped and I was struck with another wave of fear and worry for Mathias' life.

Judging by the amount of blood they had drained, I must have been out for quite a while. If Mathias hadn't been able to fight of his attackers by now, there was a big chance that they had fought off him. I felt a new layer of cold dread settle in my stomach, and it didn't help that Kiku stepped forward and removed the clamps and the tube. It only added to my panic, because now that they had my blood they no longer needed me, and with Mathias down there was no way of me getting out of this alive.

I clung to the only string of hope I could find. Yao had said that Ember's magic was keeping me alive, so that meant he was still alive, maybe at the verge of dying but not yet dead, I had to believe in that or else I would start screaming. And then it hit me, suddenly and with full force, how little attention I had really paid to what was supposed to be my one true love.

I loved Mathias, god knew I did, but I had never really taken the time to show him or tell him properly. I had just taken his support for granted and never given something back. If we died now, he would never know, he would never _understand_ how important he was. And all this time I had just dragged him along, never once stopping to appreciate the unquestioning love he offered, even though I had bound him with spells to my will, even though I had used him like a tool for my own goals.

I couldn't die, not like this, I couldn't let him die without telling him, not without showing him one last time that he meant the world to me. My eyes were filled with tears, and I was crying openly, but I didn't care. And I didn't care that I was begging when I spoke up, voice still barely above a whisper.

"Ember, where is Ember? Let me see him, please." _Just one more time_.

Ember? Your dragon went down when he heard your first scream, he didn't seem to take that well." Yao shrugged dismissively, his focus now drawn to the container that Kiku had just screwed shut.

"Please." I repeated, tears streaming down my face as I pushed back the sobs that threatened to escape.

"I doubt he'll be in the right condition to see you." My chest constricted and I gave up on holding back my sobs. The physical pain, the emotional pain, it was all too much and I couldn't stand the thought of losing my soul mate to a battle he was forced in because of me.

"Shut him up." Yao snapped as he dragged the container to the table. I tried to wiggle away, but Kiku grabbed my head and forced a piece of cloth between my teeth. That didn't stop the sobbing, but it muffled enough of the sounds to please Yao apparently.

Yao's back was in the way so I couldn't see what he was doing, but I heavily doubted that it could be anything good. I could see smoke wafting up and a sharp smell filled the air. It had already been hard to breathe with the gag in my mouth, but now it was almost impossible. The stench made my throat constrict and I fought down a cough that would definitely end badly with the cloth still wedged between my teeth.

"Finally." Yao breathed, voice brimming with exhilaration. "Finally." He repeated it as he lifted a bowl from the table, smoke still billowing from its contents, and took a deep breath. For a moment his face seemed to change through the veil of the smoke, his features pulled out into a reptilian shape, eyes glowing red and the shadows of long sharp teeth ghosting over his lip.

Time seemed to freeze then, as our eyes locked and I saw my fear reflected in those insatiable glowing reds. All the strength, what little strength I had preserved, left my body and I sagged against the wall, unable to hold myself up anymore as I Bowed my head in defeat. I didn't understand d what was going on, or if I even had a chance of coming out alive, but I very well knew, that there was nothing I could do.

It was almost a relief to finally admit that I was powerless, that I had been powerless to begin with, and that all the supposed power I had held before, was just a delusion. I only wished I realized that sooner, before I led everyone into disaster.

I closed my eyes as Yao lifted the bowl to his lips, doubtless to drink its contents. I didn't want to see the result of my failure. There was a hissing sound and then I heard rapid tapping, like feet running up stairs, but that couldn't be, and then there was a shout and a scream, and suddenly the magic holding me up dispersed and I flopped unceremoniously to the ground.

There were new voices, shouting and growling, but the sudden drop to the ground had my head spinning and I found it hard to focus on anything. Someone screamed again and I heard a loud and clear 'Nooooo', that sounded suspiciously like Yao, but that couldn't be, he got what he wanted, why would he scream no.

A hand was in my hair and it took me a moment to realize it was my own, dragging through the strands in an attempt to calm the raging headache that had erupted behind my temple.

"Lukas, are you alright?" Someone was there right beside me, pulling my hands away from my face, and I had to blink a few times before my vision was clear enough to recognize them.

"Vash?" I couldn't believe it. And there behind Vash was Berwald, struggling with what appeared to be Yao, only his contours were distorted, as if he had been stopped mid transformation. Kiku lied unconscious on the floor, blood matting the strands of his hair.

"Why are you here?" I asked as Vash pulled me to my feet, voice scratchy in my throat.

"The guards turned on Arthur and his men, shortly after you left. I figured that there was something off and that you would be at the heart of the storm by now. So here we are, cavalry barging in with guns blazing."

"What about Mathias?" I couldn't hide the anxiety from my voice, but there was a flash of understanding in Vash's eyes.

"He's fine. He managed to crash land outside of the palace and Gilbert's got his back."

Relief flooded me, pure and infinite relief. Mathias was fine and Gilbert out there meant that Ludwig was fine too.

"You two, get out of here." Berwald shouted, pressing Yao up against the wall, but he had a hard time holding on as Yao struggled out of his grip. "I'll hold him off."

"You will pay for this." Yao growled, clasping his hand around Berwald's arm and pushing him, slowly but inevitably, away from him. "It was almost done, _almost_, and you interrupted the ritual." He threw Berwald off with one vicious shove and Vash and I had to actually duck out of the way not to get hit by him.

"Look at me now. I am a monstrosity and _you_ did that."

"You were going to transform in here? How well did you think that would have worked?" I spat, laying all my frustration in my voice. It was certainly not the right thing to say in this situation, but I didn't care. The snarl that pushed out of Yao's contorted mouth was enough satisfaction for me. At this point, all I wanted was to make him suffer for what he put me through.

"Don't mock me, _human_. You know nothing. I was going to be generous and let you live but now I will bleed you out until you are nothing but a dry husk." He launched himself forward, and it was all thanks to Vash's inhumanly quick reflexes that he didn't impale me with his claws. A gunshot echoed through the room and Yao screeched, but the bullets only stopped him for the seconds it took him to claw them out of his chest, before he whipped around to resume his attack.

I scrambled backwards, but there was a wall behind me and I instinctively cowered behind my arms, knowing very well that they would do nothing to protect me. I braced for an impact that never happened. Berwald had barreled into Yao at the last second, deterring his trajectory enough for him to crash into the wall next to me, shaking the whole building in the process.

"Lukas, get out. NOW." Vash commanded and aimed his guns again, shooting past Berwald's shoulder right into Yao's forehead. It would have been too easy, of course, for that to stop him, but it got me enough time to scramble my way to the stairwell that led down and I dived head first trough it, bracing my descent with my hands but I scraped more than just a bit of skin.

The room above me seemed to explode in gunfire and bodies slamming into walls and I was torn between fleeing and staying to help with the fight. I knew that I wouldn't be of much help, but it just felt so wrong to just leave like that. I had left too many people to die already, I couldn't bear to do it again.

It was a groan that made the decision for me. Matthew lied right next to the edge of the stairs, eyes halfway open as he tried to focus on me. Without much thinking I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down after me. After all I couldn't find it in me to be mad at him, for being fooled by Yao just like I had been. At least he deserved to be saved.

"No." Matthew gripped my shirt, pulling me down. "You need… stop… blood… only you." It was hard to make out the words as Matthew was still suffering from the effects of whatever it was that Kiku did to him.

"What do you mean?" I realized what he was trying to tell me, I needed to stop Yao, but I just had no clue how. "How can I stop him, how?" I realized I had my hands grasped into Matthew's shirt and I carefully released him, to give him more room.

"The bowl… blood… bowl." Matthew coughed, his eyes going out of focus as he slumped down. I swallowed hard as another crash sounded from above. I had enough of all these second hand fights that were going on around me while I could only listen. I neither knew what Matthew had been trying to tell me exactly, nor how he even possessed that knowledge, but I damn well knew that it was time to do something.

I peeked over the edge of the stairs, Berwald was pinned down by Yao and tried desperately to fend off his claws, while Vash fumbled to reload the one gun that remained to him, the other lying bent and useless in the corner. The bowl was on the floor next to the table, a long crack running down its side and I swallow again. Hopefully I would know what to do with it once I reached the bowl. Or else…

I shook off the thought and the doubts that threatened to immobilize me and then I surged forward, keeping my eyes straight on target, ignoring Vash's protest and the feral growl that emanated from the two fighting dragons.

I stumbled over a piece of debris that had been lying on the ground and my hands screamed in protest as I fell on my already scraped off palms, but I shoved the pain away to where I had stored my fear. I scrambled the rest of the way on my hands and knees and then my hands finally closed around the bowl. But then I hit a dead end.

I still didn't know what to do with it. The bowl wasn't completely empty, there was clotted blood inside the bowl, mixed with what looked like burnt herbs and a small grey stone that looked like- never mind it _was_ a bone that looked suspiciously like a human finger. I felt sick, and that wasn't entirely because of the biting smell that still lingered around the bowl.

I tried to recall what I knew about magic, especially blood magic, but unfortunately I came up mostly blank. Blood was pure potency, it was the essence of life, but the very key to blood magic was sacrifice. In this case it was either the human bone or the blood Yao had taken from me, probably both.

To undo Yao's magic I would need to undo the sacrifice, and that meant…

I didn't know if I should hope that I was wrong or if that was really the solution to this problem. But either way I had no other choice, doing nothing was definitely the worst I could be doing right now, even though it was a long shot to begin with.

But oh god, couldn't I just throw away the bone and hope that it would do the trick? But it wouldn't be this easy, it was never this easy. I prayed, to whatever deity was out there, that this would work, that I was right, because if it wasn't , that meant that we were officially screwed.

Oh God, please let this work.

_..._

**A/N:** We're nearing the end my dears, only two more chapters and then an Epilogue. And don't worry, contrary to popular belief, I will not kill everyone. I'm not that evil, okay maybe I am, but I still won't kill everyone. Just one half of your OTPs muahahaha.

Just kidding.

Okay now I feel bad, because I did kill two halves of two OTPs :/

Sorry about that.


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